


I Will Spend my Whole Life Loving You

by lastchildofkrypton



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Domestic, F/F, Fluff, Guys it's gay, Kids, Pregnancy, bechloe fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-04-03 20:05:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14003685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lastchildofkrypton/pseuds/lastchildofkrypton
Summary: A collection of domestic Bechloe one shots. Also posted on Fanfiction.net.





	1. Snow Day

Beca rushes downstairs on Wednesday morning.  
     “Hi Mama.” She is greeted by her youngest daughter.  
     “Hi Mags.”  
She looks around the kitchen for her keys. She grabs a coffee, an apple and slings her bag over her shoulder. She leans over the counter and kisses Chloe, who has been watching her with amusement.  
     “Bye baby, I’ll see you tonight.”  
She walks toward the door.  
     “Uh, Bec, have you looked outside?”  
     “No,” She says as she opens the door to over a foot of snow, “oh.”  
     “Yeah, I don’t think you’re going to work today.”  
     “Mama, we don’t have school today.” Maggie says, through a mouthful of waffle.  
Beca puts her stuff down on the counter and sighs. Her hand moves to her hand and pulls at the roots.  
     “I had a lot to get down today.”  
     “Can’t you push it a day? Have a snow day like when you were a kid?”  
     “I didn’t get a lot of those.”  
During her childhood in Seattle, there were only a handful of times that it snowed; most of which were light dustings that didn’t get her out of school.  
     “Well then have one now with us.”  
Chloe’s smile is bright but her eyes are tired. Of course, as a teacher, she would never pass up a snow day.  
     “I had deadlines, Chlo.”  
     “There’s always a deadline, or a meeting, or a whatever. It’s just one day.”  
Charlie, their middle child, walks out of her bedroom into the kitchen. She stifles a yawn and rubs her eyes.  
     “What’s going on?”  
     “Snow day!” Maggie yells, always the bearer of good news.  
     “Really?”  
Charlie is suddenly very awake. No school means the three girls are cooped up in the house all day and by tonight they will be at each other’s throats. But right now, Lennon is still sleeping, and the other two are happily eating their breakfast. Beca disappears and comes back a minute later in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, her hair pulled into a ponytail. Chloe smiles as she puts a plate in front of her.  
     “Thank you.”  
     “You’re welcome.”  
Beca works for a while at the counter. CHarlie and Chloe work on their latest jigsaw conquest at the table. Maggie sits next to Beca drawing. Every once in a while she can feel Maggie’s fingers playing with her ponytail and she smiles; it’s such a Chloe thing to do.

Lennon sleeps until around 12:30 and no one wakes her. She rolls over in her bed and looks at her clock.  
     “Oh my God. I’m late.”  
She rushes around the room throwing on clothes and grabbing her backpack. She runs out into the kitchen and grabs an apple. She sticks it in her mouth while she puts her hair into a ponytail.  
     “Should we say something?” Chloe whispers to Beca, from their spot in the living room.  
     “Nope, let’s see this play out.” Beca says.  
Lennon is about to turn around down the hall to see where everyone is but she catches her mother’s red hair in the corner of her eye. She looks up with a pinched look on her face.  
     “What’s going on?”  
     “Snow day!” Maggie yells, the novelty clearly hasn’t worn off.  
     “Cool.”  
Lennon drops her bag and walks into the living room. She plops down on the couch next to Beca. She lays her head on her lap, her hair splaying out over her thighs.  
     “Make yourself comfortable.”  
Chloe drapes a blanket over Lennon as she cuddles deeper into Beca. Maggie and Charlie are sitting at their art table in the corner drawing. lennon’s eyes droop closed almost immediately when Beca’s hand starts to gently scratch her scalp.  
     “Are you hungry, baby? You missed lunch.” Chloe asks.  
     “No.”  
Chloe gets up and makes food for her anyway which she eats, only after being forced to sit up.  
     “Mama, can we go make a snowman?” Maggie asks, her little features glowing at the prospect of going outside.  
     “It’s still snowing pretty hard, Angel. Why don’t we wait a little while longer. I promise we will.”  
Her tiny shoulders slump but she isn’t down for long. Charlie pulls her into their bedroom and they come back with armfuls of blankets and pillows.  
     “Len, we’re making a fort, come on.” Charlie says.  
Lennon looks like she’s about to protest but she puts her fork down, jumps off the couch and out of the room. She comes back with the blankets and pillows from her own room.  
     “Is this enough?” She asks.  
     “Mama, can we use your blankets?”  
Beca is fully invested in something on her laptop so she just nods. The two little ones run to their moms’ bedroom and come back, struggling a little with the king sized comforter. They spend the better part of an hour making the fort; climbing on furniture, moving chairs, until they deem it acceptable. They’ve kicked Beca out of the room, which she gladly allowed so she could get some work done in the quiet of the kitchen. Chloe is cleaning, listening to their giggles and their squeals.  
They put their pillows and their smaller blankets inside. Lennon even finds an old camping lantern to put inside. Along with Maggie’s over abundance of stuffed animals.  
     “Mommy, Mama, come look what we did.” Maggie calls down the hallway.  
     “That’s almost never a good thing.” Beca groans.  
They walk into the living room which has been completely transformed into a giant fort. The girls’ little faces are peeking out at them from different spots. Chloe giggles while she takes pictures and Beca smiles, tapping Maggie’s nose with her finger.  
     “Are me and mommy allowed in there?”  
     “Yeah.” Maggie says, she looks like she’s going to explode from excitement.  
Beca and Chloe crawl inside and are more than a little impressed.  
     “Looks like we’re raising little engineers.” Chloe says, Maggie climbs into her lap, “you know what I think?”  
     “What?” Charlie asks.  
     “I think this fort is perfect for hot cocoa and movies.”  
     “Yes!” Charlie and Lennon say at the same time.  
     “Mama, you help pick the movie,” Chloe says, “and I’ll go make the hot cocoa.”  
Maggie switches from Chloe’s lap to Beca’s. The girls deliberate, following the rule that everyone has to agree on the movie and it has to be a suitable rating for the youngest person watching. Chloe makes the hot cocoa; chocolate milk for Maggie because she doesn’t like anything too hot. She brings it back in on a try where the girls have decided on The Polar Express; mostly because of the hot chocolate scene but Christmas is coming so Beca thought it a reasonable choice.  
They all drink their drinks quickly and cuddle in together to watch it. Maggie is asleep before the little boy even gets on the train and Beca soon follows. Chloe looks over and brushes the hair from Beca’s face; she’s pretty sure she could watch them for just as long, and with more interest, than the movie playing in front of her. Lennon, Charlie, and Chloe watch the rest of the movie and as soon as it’s over Chloe sits up, her back stiff from laying on the floor for so long.  
     “Who wants to help me make dinner?”  
     “I will, mommy.” Charlie offers.  
     “Thanks bug, let’s go.”  
Lennon disappears into her room for a little while. Beca and Maggie stay asleep in the warmth of the fort. Charlie and Chloe move around each other in the kitchen. Charlie always loves helping Chloe cook, and she’s pretty good at it too.  
     “Mommy, are we going to have school tomorrow?”  
     “I don’t know. It depends on how long this storm lasts.”  
Charlie looks a little sad.  
     “What’s the matter?”  
     “I don’t want today to be over. We never spend time all of us together anymore.”  
Chloe bites her lower lip, she tosses the dish towel down onto the counter and picks Charlie up to sit her on the island.  
     “I know what you mean. We’ve all been pretty busy lately.”  
     “Especially Mama.”  
Beca has been working nearly round the clock to get her newest album out. It’s meant late nights at the studio, video conferences during bedtime, and missing soccer games and dance classes. She hates it and so do the girls.  
     “I know. But pretty soon Mama will be back to her old schedule and we’ll be seeing her a lot more.”  
     “You promise?”  
     “Absolutely. Why don’t you go wake Mama and Maggie?”  
Charlie jumps down and starts out of the room but Chloe grabs her wrist.  
     “Nicely.”  
Charlie smirks and goes into the living room. She crawls into the fort, up to Beca.  
     “Mama,” she whispers, “Mama, wake up.”  
Beca’s eyes open groggily. She could sleep for another twelve hours. Charlie is incredibly close to her face, looking at her with her deep blue eyes.  
     “What’s wrong?”  
     “It’s dinner time. Mommy made chicken.”  
     “Okay.”  
Beca’s eyes droop a little but she rubs them, and sits up, careful not to jostle Maggie too much.  
     “Mags, wake up, it’s time to eat.”  
Maggie’s eyes open and she looks right into Beca’s. She looks so much like Chloe when she wakes up, her eyes a little foggy, her hair ruffled. They all climb out of the fort, Beca fights the chill that runs down her spine when she is exposed to the much cooler air of the rest of the house.  
     “It smells delicious, baby.”  
Beca kisses her cheek and helps to dish up the food for the girls.  
     “Attention all offspring,” She speaks loudly, “hands washed and in your chair or you will be starved.”  
     “Bec,” Chloe warns.  
The girls go into the bathroom, wash their hands and come back to take their usual seats; Maggie next to Chloe, Charlie and Lennon across from them and Beca on the end.  
     “Well, I would ask how everyone’s day was but I already know.” Chloe says.  
She’s never happier than when she gets her whole family together. She knows there are only a few more years before all of them are in activities and busy with friends so she makes sure to remember how it feels; right now in this moment.

The girls are all asleep. The snow is still falling heavily. Beca is standing in front of the large window in their living room, watching the flakes in the streetlight. Chloe walks up behind her and wraps her arms around her waist.  
     “Whatcha thinking about?”  
She can feel that every muscle in Beca’s back and arms are stiff. Her jaw is clenched and her shoulders are up toward her ears.  
     “I hope this snow stops. I have so much to get done tomorrow.”  
     “Bec, you’ve been working your ass off. I think one day off is okay.”  
     “I know, it’s just, there’s been a lot of pressure on me and it needs to be perfect.”  
Chloe turns her to look into her eyes.  
     “And it will be. You know how I know that?”  
     “How?”  
     “Because you’re passionate about this project. I saw it the second you told me about it and i’ve seen it every day since you started.”  
     “That doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to be good. G is definitely one of the most difficult artists I’ve ever worked with.”  
Chloe leads her to the couch. She massages her shoulders and kisses her neck.  
     “I’m going to hit you with some Mom knowledge. Are you ready for this?”  
Beca scoffs and nods her head; allowing her shoulders to loosen.  
     “All you can do is your best.”  
Beca turns around and gives her an incredulous look.  
     “I know. Mind blown, right?”  
Beca laughs and kisses her wife. She pushes her back until they’re lying down and kisses her more deeply. She kisses down her neck and across her clavicle. Her hand is sneaking up under her shirt but stops when she hears a small voice.  
     “Mama?”  
Beca sits up and clears her throat, fighting the blush that wants to cover her cheeks.  
     “Mags, what are you doing up?”  
     “You promised we could make a snowman.”  
Beca looks at Chloe. She should tell her to go back to sleep, that they’ll do it tomorrow, but the look on her face makes it impossible to fight the guilt in her gut. Beca hops up off the couch. She kneels down in front of Maggie.  
     “You know what? You’re right. Go wake up your sisters and tell them to put on their snow clothes.”  
Maggie’s face breaks into a huge smile. She runs out of the room as if Beca is going to change her mind if she stands there too long.  
     “What are you doing?” Chloe asks.  
     “We’re building a snowman.”  
The girls are in the kitchen, bundled up, ten minutes later. Lennon looks grumpy, Charlie is still in a sleepy haze and Maggie is bouncing up and down like she’s going to explode. Beca and Chloe are wrapped in scarves, coats, and have their snow boots on.  
     “Alright ladies, the mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make the best snowman ever. I don’t mean just an okay snowman, I mean the most well-sculpted, expertly crafted, snowman the world has ever seen. Do you accept?”  
     “Yes.” They answer in varying degrees of excitement.  
They follow Beca and Chloe outside. Once they see how high the snow piles are and they realize they’re being allowed to stay up past their bedtimes to play, they squeal and run around and throw snowballs. Beca seems to have more fun than the girls do. Chloe pulls her toward her by her jacket and kisses her. Beca pulls away just enough so their noses are still touching.  
     “What was that for?”  
Chloe shrugs, “I just want you to know how amazing you are. You’re the only one that can make them smile like this.”

Once they’re back inside, the girls change into new pajamas and cuddle up in their beds, falling asleep immediately. Beca and Chloe toss the wet clothes into the dryer and climb into their bed. It’s quiet and dark, peaceful. Chloe’s voice comes through the darkness, sending a sense of calm over Beca.  
     “Today was a good day.”  
     “Today was a great day.”


	2. Are You My Mom?

     “Come on, Charlie. It’s not that scary.” Lennon says.  
She’s sitting on the couch with her best friend Camila.   
     “Unless you’re a chicken.”  
Charlie, the middle child, always a little too much like Beca stiffens her jaw and crosses her arms.  
     “I’m not a chicken.”  
     “Then prove it. Watch this movie with us.”  
Lennon presses a button on the remote and the horror movie she’s been begging Charlie to watch for an hour starts to play. Charlie runs over to her sister and tucks her feet underneath her. Normally she isn’t allowed to watch anything above a PG rating, and she is definitely not allowed to watch horror movies. But Beca and Chloe are out for a date night and have left Lennon, their oldest, and her best friend in charge. They’ve already put Maggie to bed and they’ve been trying their best mind games to convince Charlie to let them watch it.  
Halfway through the movie Charlie is under the blanket, covering her eyes with her hands but peeks periodically between her fingers. Lennon and Camila both watch, seemingly unbothered by the gore and the jump scares. By the time the final credits roll Charlie is completely under her blanket, clutching a pillow to her chest. Lennon and Camila get up to go upstairs.  
     “Wait!”   
Charlie runs after them. She doesn’t want to be left alone downstairs in the dark.  
     “Charlotte, don’t forget the deal.”  
     “What deal?”  
Lennon tilts her head and looks expectantly at her little sister.  
     “Fine, I won’t tell.”  
     “Good, now go to bed.”  
     “But-”  
     “Go. If you’re still awake when Mom and Mama get home they’re going to be pissed at me.”  
Lennon walks into her room and shuts the door behind her. Charlie stands outside, hoping that she’ll open it again and tuck her into bed. When she hears giggling and music playing she knows that isn’t going to happen. She walks into her bedroom and turns the light on. She looks around her entire room before she closes her door and changes into her pajamas. She crawls into bed and pulls her blankets up to her chin. She leaves the lights on and closes her eyes, opening them every few minutes to make sure nothing is in the room with her. She debates going to sleep on the floor in Maggie’s room but her parents would be too suspicious.  
She lays awake for another hour before her moms come home. She can hear them open and close the front door, the jingling of keys, mixed with the tapping of high heels on the hardwood floor. They’re laughing about something. Then she hears one of them make a shushing sound. When she hears them on the stairs she runs over to shut her light off and jumps back into bed, pretending to be asleep. The door opens and lets in a sliver of light, it falls on her face so she does her best to keep still.  
     “She’s actually asleep?” Chloe asks in a whisper.  
Charlie keeps her eyes shut tight while she feels Beca come over. She smells her perfume all around her when she kisses her forehead. The door closes a few seconds later and the room is left in complete darkness.  
Once everyone is in bed and the house is quiet, that’s when all the images from the movie come back into her mind. Every sound is a threat, the sounds her house always makes: the ice maker, the heater kicking on, the neighbors dog that barks until midnight. They’re all much louder than usual and a lot scarier. When she’s jolted awake by a particularly bad one she doesn’t wait before jumping off her bed, whipping her door open, and running down the hall into her moms’ bedroom. She tiptoes over to their bed, to Beca’s side first, but then decides Chloe is less grumpy when she wakes up.  
     “Mommy,” She pokes her shoulder and Chloe’s eyes open immediately.  
Her eyes focus on Charlie and she’s wide awake.  
     “What’s wrong?”  
She looks at the clock 1:30  
     “I had a bad dream. Can I sleep in here, please?”  
Her daughter is scared, genuinely scared, she can tell from the desperate tone in her voice. She hasn’t asked to sleep in their bed in months, unless she was sick. Chloe knows whatever this nightmare was, it bothered her.  
     “Sure baby, climb in.”   
Chloe lifts the blankets up and Charlie scoots underneath the fluffy comforter. She snuggles into her mother’s side and feels Chloe’s arms wrap around her. She breathes a content sigh and falls asleep. This time the nightmares don’t bother her.  
When she wakes up, Chloe is gone but Beca is still in bed next to her. She has moved to the center of the bed, taking over Chloe’s space. She rolls onto her side and Beca is already looking at her.  
     “Good morning, bug.”  
     “Good morning.”  
     “Mommy said you had a nightmare last night?”  
Charlie nods, a little embarrassed in the light of day.  
     “Do you wanna talk about it?”  
She shrugs. Beca runs her hand through Charlie’s beautiful brown curls and lifts her arm for her to crawl into, which she does gladly.  
     “You can talk to me and Mommy about anything. You know that right?”  
Charlie nods again. She’s always been the child that’s too much in her own head. She’s emotionally perceptive, smart and curious, imaginative which can create some scary mental pictures; images that can spawn especially graphic nightmares.  
     “Mama?”  
Beca fights the chill caused by Charlie’s cold little feet sitting in between her bare legs.  
     “Hm?”  
     “If I tell you, do you promise not to get mad?”  
     “That’s never a promising beginning to a story.”  
Charlie turns to look at Beca.  
     “Sure, I promise not to get mad.”  
     “Lennon and Camila watched a movie last night and Len said I had to watch it with them too or else I was a chicken.  
     “And what movie would that be?”  
     “Dawn of the Dead.”  
     “Of course it was,” Beca says, already getting out of bed.  
     “Where are you going? You said you weren’t going to get mad.”  
     “I’m not mad,” Beca says, clearly mad, with a fake smile plastered on her face, “I’m just going to have a little chat with your sister.”  
She leaves and Charlie sighs, she knows that she just got her sister in trouble; she’d definitely be going to bed early next time Lennon babysits. If she’s allowed to babysit ever again.  
She goes to her room and gets a sweatshirt, then to the kitchen where Chloe is looking over some emails.  
     “Hi baby, how did you sleep?”  
She greets Charlie with tired eyes and a lazy smile. Although she is happy Charlie was able to sleep, she never sleeps well with her in their bed. She kicks and talks in her sleep. Beca can sleep through anything so it didn’t bother her but Chloe was up for most of the night. Charlie shrugs and takes her usual seat at the island.  
     “What’s wrong?”  
Before she can answer there are raised voices from upstairs.  
     “What happened?”  
     “Lennon showed me a scary movie and Mama’s mad.”  
Chloe nods, closes her laptop and walks up the stairs to referee the sparring match. Beca and Lennon love each other, so much, but they are known to butt heads. Charlie follows closely behind. When they reach the top of the stairs Lennon and Beca are in Lennon’s bedroom, not quite yelling, but speaking very loudly at one another; Chloe is just thankful Camila has already gone home.  
     “Mama, I don’t see what the big deal is. She’s not a baby.”  
     “No, she’s not, but she is very sensitive. You know that and you bait her anyway.”  
     “Bait her?”  
     “Telling her to do things or else she’s a chicken? You know that she’ll do anything to impress you and you take advantage of that.”  
In this moment Beca and Lennon are the perfect mirrors of each other; lips pursed, eyebrows raises, and arms crossed over their chests.  
     “She needs to get over being scared of everything. I thought I was doing her a favor.”  
     “We both know that isn’t true.”  
Neither of them seem to notice Chloe and Charlie are standing in the doorway.  
     “You’re so overprotective of her because she’s your actual kid.”  
These words stun both Beca and Chloe. This isn’t something that’s ever come up, at least not in this light. They explained to Lennon when she was about Charlie’s age that she and Maggie are Chloe’s biological children and Charlie is Beca’s, and they share the same father. This is not a thought she has ever expressed.  
     “That’s not true,” Beca moves closer but Lennon backs away and shakes her head.  
     “You don’t think you play favorites but you do. And you think that it’s not obvious but it is. She looks just like you and I look just like Mom.”  
     “Lennon,” Chloe’s voice is stern.  
Beca and Lennon both notice her and Charlie for the first time. Both of their eyes go to Charlie who is leaning against Chloe’s legs. She looks like she’s going to cry. She charges into the room, straight to her sister, fists raised above her head.  
     “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re stupid!” She yells, throwing fists at Lennon’s arms and stomach.  
     “It’s true.” Lennon says, pushing her sister away.   
     “Shut up!”  
Beca grabs her and carries her out of the room. Chloe stands staring at her older daughter who has trained her face on a stony expression.  
     “We will be back to talk about this. Don’t you dare move.” She says.   
She closes the door and walks down the hallway into her and Beca’s room. Charlie is throwing a full fit on the bed; crying and yelling, her whole body feels numb and shaky at the same time.  
     “Charlie, bug, calm down. You have to calm down.” Beca is begging but her words don’t seem to make an impact.  
     “Charlotte, listen to me.”  
Chloe’s calmer, more soothing voice, cuts through her sobs and her breathing slows, her cries get quieter.  
     “It’s alright. I promise. Can we explain?”  
She nods and her mothers take a seat on either side of her. Chloe takes one of her tiny hands in hers and Beca runs her hand through her hair.  
     “You’re both not my moms?”  
     “It’s kind of complicated,” Beca starts, “but to make a baby you need what’s called a man’s sperm and a lady’s egg. So because me and Mommy are both women we couldn’t make a baby on our own. We needed to get what’s called a donor to help us make you and your sisters.”  
     “A donor?”  
Her brow is furrowed, the tears long forgotten as she tries to process this new information. She feels like she should get a notebook and write it down, like school.  
     “Yeah,” Chloe says, “and because only one woman can make a baby at a time with a donor, we took turns. I went first with one of my eggs and we had Lennon. Then when it was Mama’s turn we had you.”  
     “I had a hard time having you, but we knew we weren’t done making our family, so Mommy took another turn and we had Maggie.”  
     “And even though you aren’t biologically mine, and I didn’t carry you in my stomach, and Mama didn’t carry Lennon and Maggie, it doesn’t mean that you are any less both of our babies. Do you understand?”  
     “Kind of I guess.”  
     “Okay good.”  
     “But can you go tell that to Lennon?” Charlie asks, her face showing the same amount of concern as before, “Because she looked really sad.”  
     “You’re very sweet,” Chloe says, standing but first kissing the top of her head, “I’ll go talk to Len.”  
     “I think we should both go.”  
Beca stands to join her wife. Chloe knocks on Lennon’s doorframe twice but doesn’t wait for a response before they walk in. Lennon is lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. She’s waiting to get yelled at or punished so she’s surprised when Chloe’s first words are,  
     “Are you alright?”  
Her expression softens at her mother’s genuine concern.  
     “Yeah, I shouldn’t have said what I said. It wasn’t fair.”  
     “No, it wasn’t, but any thoughts that you have like that are valid.” Chloe says.  
     “Len, we never want you to feel like you can’t come to us when you’re feeling like that. And we definitely don’t want you to ever feel like we don’t love you and your sisters equally. Because we do; we love the three of you with all of our hearts,” Beca sits on the bed and wraps an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. She kisses her temple, “If I had it my way, you would all be biologically mine and Mom’s but unfortunately that’s not the way it works.”  
     “I’m sorry for what I said. I don’t think that.”  
     “You must think it somewhere, deep, deep down, or else you wouldn’t have said it. But that’s okay. It’s okay to think things as long as you don’t leave them bottled up because then we can’t talk about them.”  
     “We want to know what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours.” Beca says with a smile, which makes Lennon smile a little too.  
     “Okay, I promise.”  
Beca squeezes her tight.  
     “Is Charlie okay?”  
     “She’s fine. You know your sister, she’s probably out there right now looking up how babies are made.” Chloe scoffs.  
     “Yeah that ought to be a fun conversation.” Beca says, sarcastically, before standing back up, “We don’t need to have that talk again, do we?”  
     “No,” Lennon yells, “please, no.”  
     “Alright, just checking,” Beca lifts her hands in surrender when she walks out of the room.  
Chloe looks at Lennon, “For the record, I love that you look just like me.”  
She winks and then walks out of the room to go back to the kitchen. All of this, and they haven’t even had breakfast yet, and miraculously, Maggie slept through all the excitement.


	3. Sick Day

Beca walks into the nurse’s office at Fowler Elementary School. She is greeted by a sight that makes her heart ache. Lennon is lying on one of the beds with a cloth on her forehead. She is curled up into a ball, clutching her stomach.  
“Hello, are you here for Lennon?”  
“Yes,” Beca is about to introduce herself but Lennon is reaching out to her with tears in her eyes.  
“Mama.”  
“Hi Len, you’re not feeling good?”   
Beca picks her up and gently sways back and forth.  
“I want Mommy.”  
Beca isn’t surprised by this. Lennon always wants Chloe when she’s sick, but unfortunately Chloe is stuck at work.  
“I know, baby, but she has some important meetings at work today, so we’re gonna go home and put on our jammies and lay on the couch. Does that sound okay?”  
Lennon nods and puts her forehead in the crook of Beca’s neck and she can feel the warmth radiating off of her. Her clothes are damp from sweat and she is groaning quietly against Beca’s shoulder.  
“Okay baby, let’s go home.”  
Once they’re in the car, Beca tries to call Chloe but there’s no answer. Beca had to leave work early and her phone hasn’t stopped buzzing with texts and emails since. She makes sure Lennon is buckled in her car seat before she starts to drive. Lennon is asleep before they get home so she carries her inside. Her arms are full with Lennon, both of their bags, and a coffee, when her phone rings; it’s Chloe.  
She puts everything down but misses the call so she calls her back, “Hey Chlo.”  
“Hi baby, what’s going on?”  
“We’ve got a tiny Bella down.”  
“Which one?”  
“Lennon, I just picked her up from school. She’s got a crazy fever. Can you pick Charlie up on your way home?”  
Normally Beca picks Charlie up after work at the sitter’s. It’s closer to the studio than it is to Chloe’s office. She hears someone, a man, speaking on the other end of the line before Chloe speaks again, more rushed this time.  
“Yeah, but I have to go. Give her a kiss for me.”  
“Love you, bye.”  
“Love you.”

 

When Chloe walks through the door, with Charlie in one arm, and everything else in the other, she kicks the door closed behind her and puts the baby down. She toddles into the living room right over to where Beca is dozing on the couch, Lennon lying on her chest. Charlie puts her palm on Beca’s cheek.  
“Mama up.”  
Beca opens one eye and a smile creeps up on her face.  
“Hi bug, I’m awake,” She looks around, “where’s Mommy?”  
“I’m right here.” Chloe whispers.  
She sits on the edge of the couch and runs her hand through Lennon’s hair. She cringes at how warm she is.  
“How’s she doing?”  
“Last I checked she still had a fever of 102 but she hasn’t gotten sick in a few hours.”  
Chloe nods and picks Charlie up to sit her on her lap. She kisses her hair and rests her cheek on top of her head.  
“Emily is going to take Charlie tonight so she doesn’t catch whatever this is.”  
“That’s probably a good call.” Beca speaks softly, trying to keep her breathing even so she doesn’t wake Lennon up.  
“Mama, Len sleeping.” Charlie puts her finger up to her mouth in a shushing motion and Beca copies her.  
“Are you good here while I get her ready?”  
“We’re fine.”  
Beca smiles sleepily and Chloe kisses her softly on the lips.  
Charlie watches her and copies her Mom’s actions. She plants a very wet kiss on Beca’s lips.  
“Thank you, baby. Go with Mommy.”  
Lennon stirs and Beca winces but settles back when she doesn’t wake up. Instead, she nuzzles her cold little nose into Beca’s neck. Her breathing is getting more labored and she is starting to sound congested.  
Emily walks into the house a few minutes later. She tiptoes into the living room. She leans over to see if Beca is awake, when she sees her eyes open she gives a little wave.  
“Hey Em, Chloe is getting Charlie’s stuff together.”  
“Okay. How’s she doing?”  
“Um, alright, she’s been sleeping for hours.”  
“That’s good, right?” Emily asks.  
She’s spent a lot of time with Beca and Chloe’s kids but she has no idea how to deal with anything more than a quick tantrum or a skinned knee.   
“Yeah, as long as she sleeps tonight.”  
Charlie runs into the room with her arms up.  
“Emily!”  
Emily picks her up and shushes her but it’s too late. Lennon is awake, already crying.  
“Mama, my belly hurts.”  
“Sh, I know, sweet girl. I know.”  
Beca sits up and adjusts Lennon’s tiny body in her lap, swaying back and forth slowly.  
“Len crying.” Charlie says, her nose is crinkled in concern and her big gray eyes look up into Emily’s brown ones.  
“Lennon’s sick, she’s okay.” Emily kisses Charlie’s head.  
“Here Em,” Chloe comes back into the room with a bag, “that should be everything she needs.”  
“Thanks, you ready to go, tiny?”  
Charlie shakes her head and reaches out for Beca.  
“Mama stay.”  
Beca looks up at her with sympathetic eyes. She hasn’t seen much of Charlie in the past few days; with her change in work hours and now with Lennon being sick. Charlie is incredibly attached to Beca, and it takes a toll when she doesn’t get to see her. Chloe takes Beca’s spot so she can say a proper goodbye. She takes her from Emily’s arms and kisses her forehead, her cheeks, nose, and then lifts her up to kiss her belly; she still has the little baby belly that Beca loves, she doesn’t want it to go away.  
“Love Mama.”  
Charlie was is a late talker, but now that she’s started, she’s picking up nearly every word she hears.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Have fun with Emily, okay bug?”  
“Mama come.”  
“I have to stay here with Len. You go have fun and me and Mommy will see you when you wake up.”  
Charlie nods but doesn’t let go, if anything she grips tighter. Emily peels her off and Chloe blows a kiss to Charlie before they walk out of the house. Chloe lays down on the couch and lets Lennon climb on top of her. She settles into her neck. She groans in pain. Chloe kisses her head and scratches her scalp gently with her fingernails.  
“Babe?”  
Beca kneels down next to Chloe.  
“Can you fill the tub? I’m going to see if I can get her into it.”  
“Yeah, anything else I can do?”  
“Not yet.”  
Beca nods and kisses Chloe’s cheek before taking off upstairs. Chloe follows closely behind and brings Lennon into their bathroom.  
“Alright baby, we’re gonna get you in the tub and see if it helps your fever.”  
Lennon clings tightly to Chloe’s shoulder and won’t let her put her down.  
“Come on, baby. It’s okay, this will help you feel better.”  
“No Mommy, please.”  
“You want me to get in with you?”  
Lennon nods against her shoulder.  
“Okay,” Chloe calls for Beca, “hey Mama.”  
Beca pokes her head in, waiting for her next instructions. Whenever the kids are sick Chloe is the one in control, she always knows exactly what to do. Beca is happy to defer to her in these situations and they always make a good team.  
“Can you help her get undressed?”  
She hands Lennon over to Beca who gets her undressed while Chloe strips down to her underwear and a sports bra before stepping into the tub. She sits down and Beca puts Lennon in with her. She grabs the plastic cup they use to rinse the girls’ hair, fills it, and lets the water flow out over Lennon’s shoulders, chest and back. She does this a few times but she is still wildly uncomfortable.  
She has one arm pulled around her stomach, her face is pale, and her other hand has a grip so tight on Chloe’s leg that it’s going to leave a mark. Chloe takes the bar soap and lathers her hands. She massages Lennon’s back and arms. Beca smirks at Lennon’s head lolling to one side as she starts to fall asleep. She reaches her hand out and feels her forehead.  
“Still burning up.”  
“It was worth a shot.” Chloe sighs, “Okay beautiful, let’s get you dried off and into bed.”  
Beca wraps her in a towel and picks her up.  
“Go get changed. I’ll get her ready for bed. Ours?”  
“That’s probably best.”

 

Beca stirs at the sound of Lennon’s cries. She looks up at Chloe, she looks completely exhausted.  
“Have you slept at all?”  
“No, because she hasn’t. I’m this close to taking her to the ER.”  
Beca rubs the sleep from her eyes and sits herself up against her pillows.  
“Lemon, can you lay down flat on your back for me?”  
Lennon does as her Mama asks. Beca lays on her side next to her and places her hand flat on her stomach. She presses down, only slightly, and rubs in a clockwise circle. Lennon’s eyelashes start to flutter as her grip on Chloe’s shirt loosens.  
“Do you have magic? Because that’s the only explanation for this.”  
“Not magic, she’s just exhausted beyond belief.”  
“That makes two of us.”  
“Go to sleep,” Beca presses a gentle kiss to Chloe’s lips, “I’ll stay up with her for a little while just in case she needs anything.”  
Chloe hesitates, she looks down at Lennon but her own exhaustion wins. Beca’s own eyes start to droop closed but she’s wide awake when Lennon sits up and vomits onto the bed.  
“I’m so sorry, Mama. I’m sorry.”  
“Hey, look at me. Do I look upset?”  
Lennon shakes her head. Beca wipes away a tear and shakes Chloe’s shoulder.  
“Hey babe, get up, we have to change the sheets.”

It’s three AM when Lennon has finally fallen into a fitful sleep, after getting sick for what feels like the hundredth time. Beca and Chloe are just starting to drift off when Chloe’s phone rings. She groans and rolls over to grab it off the nightstand; no good news comes in the middle of the night.  
“Emily, what’s wrong?” She asks, fully awake when she sees her friends name on the screen.  
On the other end of the line she can hear Charlie crying loudly. Emily’s voice is panicked and quick.  
“Chloe, Charlie is burning up and I can’t get her to go to sleep. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do.”  
“It’s okay. I’m going to come get her. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”  
She is already up and slipping on jeans before she hangs up.  
“Okay, bye.”  
“What’s wrong?” Beca asks.  
“Charlie’s sick too.”  
“You’re kidding.” Beca lets her head fall back onto the pillow.  
“Mommy?” Lennon’s voice is raw when she opens her eyes and looks at Chloe. She reaches out her arms.  
“I have to go get your sister. I’ll be right back.”  
“No, don’t go.” Lennon starts crying again, the exhaustion is clear in her eyes and the heaviness of her limbs.  
“I’ll go get her. Come back to bed.” Beca stands and directs Chloe back onto the mattress to cuddle with Lennon, “I’ll be right back.”  
Beca slips out of the room while Chloe is distracted with Lennon, so she doesn’t have time to protest.  
When Beca gets to Emily’s door she can hear Charlie screaming from inside the apartment. Emily’s neighbors must be pissed. She knocks a couple times and in any other situation she would laugh at her disheveled appearance. She is pulled into the apartment immediately. Charlie is lying on the couch sobbing. When she sees Beca, she stands up on wobbly legs and walks over.  
“Ow Mama.”  
Beca picks her up and cuddles her to her chest. The heat from her forehead comes through beca’s shirt and her crying is subdued only slightly.  
“Alright bug, let’s get you home.” Beca slings her bag over her shoulder and looks back to Emily, “I’m so sorry about this.”  
“Don’t be, we had a good time until about an hour ago when she woke up.” Emily gives Beca a tired smile. She kisses the back of Charlie’s head, “Feel better, tiny.”

Beca walks back into the house and Charlie is still wide awake, whimpering in her arms. She doesn’t hear crying so she hopes Lennon has fallen back asleep. She’s happy to see her passed out in the middle of their bed. Chloe is somehow still awake, rubbing circles on Lennon’s stomach. She looks up when Beca appears in the doorway.  
“Mommy,” Laney’s voice is tired and scared, it makes Beca’s heart sink into her stomach.  
Chloe stands and closes the distance between them. She kisses her while she stays secure in her spot in Beca’s arms. She sways back and forth, doing her best to keep her calm. She’s so little, they can count the number of times Charlie’s been sick on one hand. Anytime their girls are sick it makes them anxious but it’s made worse because Charlie can’t tell them what’s wrong. She tugs at Beca’s shirt and she knows what that means.  
“Okay baby, I got you.”  
She walks into Charlie’s room and sits down in the rocking chair. Charlie curls up in her lap and waits while Beca unbuttons her shirt. She latches on and a few minutes later, her eyes are flitting closed. Chloe leans against the doorframe.  
“I guess the weaning is going to have to wait.”  
“If it helps her sleep I’ll try anything.” Beca runs her hand over the top of Charlie’s head. She opens her eyes and looks up into Beca’s, “You getting tired, bug?”  
Charlie just looks up at her, a stray tear drips down her cheek. One hand goes to Beca’s necklace and the other rubs her eye. Her pale skin, that usually matches Beca’s perfectly is ashen, her eyes have bags under them and her hair is a wild mess on top of her head. Beca switches sides and before she’s done, she falls asleep. Beca puts her in her crib and walks back into her and Chloe’s bedroom. Chloe and Lennon are both passed out in the bed. Lennon is curled up in the middle on her side and Chloe is sprawled on her back with her left arm over her eyes. It only took until 4:30 in the morning, but finally everyone is in bed.

 

The next morning, Lennon sleeps late, curled up under the big comforter. Her fever is still raging and her skin is even paler than it was the night before. Chloe is in the kitchen making coffee when Beca walks downstairs with their screaming baby.  
“Sh, you’re okay bug, you’re alright.”  
She tucks her head under Beca’s chin and rubs her eyes. She grips her shirt in her tiny fist and sighs, before crying more.  
“Poor thing is miserable.” Beca speaks softly, swaying side to side.  
“How’s Len?”  
“Still sound asleep.”  
“Good. Rest is the best thing for her right now.”  
“Can you hand me her medicine? Her fever isn’t budging.”  
Chloe uses the baby syringe, fills it with fever reducer and shoots it into Charlie’s mouth. She swallows then cries harder.  
“Sh, okay, okay,” Beca keeps swaying, pacing the kitchen.  
When that doesn’t work she walks over to the couch and lays Charlie on her chest. She settles after a few minutes and then she’s asleep again.

 

“Babe, are you up here?” Chloe calls down the hallway when she walks upstairs.  
When she doesn’t get an answer right away she walks toward their bedroom. Lennon is sound asleep on one side of the bed and Charlie is asleep, surrounded by pillows. Chloe quirks an eyebrow but sighs when she hears the undeniable sound of retching, coming from the bathroom. She pushes the door open to find her wife on the floor, hanging over the toilet bowl, with one arm wrapped tightly around her stomach.  
“Not you too.”  
Chloe takes a seat behind her and ties her hair up into a ponytail. She rubs her hand up and down her back, the sweat is making her shirt stick and her breathing is ragged.  
“I blame the little tyrants.”  
“As you should. Are you alright?”  
“Uh, yeah, I guess.”  
She pushes herself up on shaky arms and walks over to the sink. She splashes cold water on her face, raises out her mouth and walks into the bedroom. Chloe grabs medicine and a bucket and places them both next to the bed. Charlie stirs and starts to cry quietly. She tries to climb on top of Beca but Chloe grabs her in time.  
“I’m sorry, baby, but Mama isn’t feeling well either.” She rocks her gently back and forth, her eyes are already fluttering closed.  
“I’m sorry I’m leaving you to take care of them on your own.”  
“It’s okay, my love. Just focus on getting better. Do you need anything?”  
“Just some sleep.”  
Chloe nods. She lays down on the other end of the bed with Lennon cuddled into her chest. Beca is asleep immediately. Chloe sighs in contentment despite the combination of body heat from all three of her girls making her feel feverish herself. But she can’t bring herself to untangle from them; there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.


	4. Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Chloe is surprised when Beca isn’t in the bed next to her when she wakes up. She rubs the heel of her hand into her eye and breathes in deeply through her nose. She smiles when she hears giggling outside the door, followed by a harsh shushing sound that is no doubt Charlotte. When the door cracks open she closes her eyes and pretends to still be sleeping. The bed shifts, there’s shuffling of the sheets, and clinking dishes and she can picture the looks on all of the girls’ faces; the gentle smile on Lennon’s that's there more often than not, the fierceness in Charlie’s eyes, warning her little sister not to mess anything up, and the agonizing anticipation on Maggie’s little features. It’s quiet for a moment until, it’s really not.

  
“Happy Birthday, Mommy!” The girls yell.  
Maggie launches herself onto Chloe and wraps her body around her like a koala.  
“Thank you, babies. You did all of this for me?”  
She winks at Beca. They do the same thing for her every year but the girls are always delighted at how “surprised” she is with her breakfast in bed.  
“Uh huh.” Maggie answers proudly, as if she had anything at all to do with it.  
“Wow, it looks delicious.”

  
If she were being honest, it looks like a disaster. Beca is a big believer in the motto “you live and you learn” which means she lets the kids have a very hands-on approach with most things. The waffles are crumbled into a mushy pile on one side, the orange juice is dripping down the glass and the bacon is half cooked, but she loves it all anyway. There are homemade cards from each of the girls on the tray as well; that’s always her favorite part.  
She picks the first one up, it’s from Maggie It says ‘Happy Birthday, Mommy’ in Beca’s handwriting on the front with colorful splotches of pain all over it. The inside simply says ‘Love, Maggie’ in the three year old’s messy scrawl, backwards ‘E’ and all. She kisses Maggie’s head and picks up the next one. It has colorful squares and something she assumes is supposed to be her on the front. The inside says ‘Happy Birt day, Mommmy! Love Charlotte’ with big snowflakes all over, despite the fact that it’s July.

  
She picks up the last one. It has pink and maroon dahlias drawn on the front; they’re her favorite. It simply says, ‘Mommy’ on the front. When she opens it she’s surprised to see quite a bit of writing in very neat penmanship.  
‘I love my mom because she is kid. She makes Mama smile and she makes me laugh. I like that I look like her and Mommy says she does too. I love my mom for lots of reasons but most because she loves us. Happy Birthday, Mommy. Love, Lennon, Age 8’

  
Chloe blinks the tears back and looks at each of the girls.  
“I love them so much. Thank you, babies.”  
“You’re welcome.” Lennon says.  
“Mommy, we got you something else too.” Maggie says.  
“Shut up.” Charlie says, always one for a good surprise.  
“Hey,” Beca says, “be nice to your sister or get out. It’s Mommy’s day and she doesn’t want to listen to you fighting.”  
This seems to quiet her. She just slumps back down on the bed. Beca couldn’t blame her fully, Maggie had woken them all up obscenely early today. She bends down and gives Chloe a kiss.  
“Happy birthday, baby. I love you.”  
“Thank you. I love you too. Where’s your card?” She asks, a teasing tone in her voice.  
“I figure I’d give you something better than a card later.” She lowers her voice.  
“Oh yeah?”  
“Mhm.”  
“What is it?” Maggie asks, and both women are reminded their children are in the room and they would like to preserve their innocence.  
“Her present, remember?” Beca says, giving a quick look back to Chloe who is doing her best to stifle a laugh.  
“Oh yeah, you’re gonna love it, Mommy.”  
“Okay monkeys go get dressed. I already pick out your clothes, Mags, so don’t try to pull anything, young lady.” Beca says.  
Lately Maggie has been adamant about not wearing underwear. Beca blames Chloe because that kid is all her wife, weird quirks and all. The girls all leave the room and Beca turns to her wife.

  
“So how does thirty-five feel, grandma?”  
“You can’t be mean to me today. It’s a birthday rule.”  
“Hm, I don’t think I ever learned that one.”  
She steals a blueberry and pops it into her mouth. Chloe pushes her shoulder before leaning over and kissing her again.  
“Thank you for putting up with our little weirdos all morning.”  
“I figured I can take that bullet once a year for you.” She answers cheekily.  
“And thank you for putting up with me for another year.”  
“No thanks necessary, babe.”  
Chloe pushes a piece of hair away from Beca’s face and stares into her eyes. She remembers a time, that feels like a lifetime ago, when Beca could barely make eye contact with her. Now she gets to hold her, kiss her, and share her whole life with her.  
“And I love our children, but I don’t think I can eat this.”  
“Yeah, I don’t blame you. I already made you another plate, it’s in the fridge, coffee’s made too. I’m gonna go make sure they haven’t killed each other yet.”  
Chloe laughs and watches her leave the room; damn does she make bedhead look good.

She gets herself up, showered, and dressed because apparently Beca has a big day planned. When she makes it to the kitchen, Beca and the girls are cleaning, with the exception of Maggie who is sitting at the counter coloring.  
“Hi baby, you look beautiful.”  
Chloe has decided on one of her favorite flowly, floral sundresses. It’s brutally hot outside, especially in the city where the heat always seems to sit stagnant and make everyone miserable.  
“Mommy, we match.” Maggie says, she stand on her chair.  
She is wearing a dress very similar to Chloe’s and the little straps of her bathing suit are sticking out.  
“We do. Sit down, angel.” Chloe helps her sit to avoid another fall from the freaking stools, “So what’s the plan for today, Bec?”  
She takes the coffee from her wife, now it's ice at the realization of just how hot it is.  
“We’re going to Jess and Ashley’s.”  
“I know that.”  
“Then what’s the question?”  
Beca was always annoyingly good at keeping secrets.  
“Girls, we’re leaving in fifteen. We need to go get Aunty B.”

  
Beca is bagging up a bunch of food and triple checking that they have everything the girls could possibly need. The truth is, she has several surprises today, and she's more excited than she would ever admit to anyone. Beca was never big on birthdays, or any holidays, before she met Chloe. Growing up her and her mom would go out to dinner to celebrate before her mom had to go back to whatever job she was working at the time. Her dad would send a card with some money in it, simply signed ‘-Dad’ and that would be it.

  
When she told Chloe all of this she looked utterly devastated. She swore from then on, birthdays would always be as big of a deal in their house as Christmas or Thanksgiving. Beca was a little scared at first, overwhelmed that she would have to compete with the parties of Chloe’s childhood, but that passed as soon as she saw the look on her face when Beca surprised her with breakfast in bed; and so the tradition continues.

  
They herd the girls into the car and drive uptown to pick up Hanna, or Aunty B, as the girls call her is Beca’s younger sister. The nickname was something that was solidified when Lennon was little, she couldn’t say “Hanna” it came out more as “Bana” and it just kind of stuck. Due to their parents’ divorce, Beca and Hanna didn’t see much of each other growing up and didn’t become close until Hanna started at Barden, during Beca’s junior year. Chloe was a huge part of the rekindling of their relationship. She’s just as much a sister to Hanna as Beca is, and they have become very close in the past fourteen years. When they pull up to the large, very posh apartment Beca asks,  
“Hey Len, can you ask the doorman to buzz Aunty B, please?”

  
She talks to Chloe to distract her. Lennon does as she’s asked, she’s the only one of the kids that knows about surprise number one. Hanna tells them she’ll be right down. A couple minutes later, Chloe’s car door whips open and before she can react she is wrapped in warm arms. If the blonde hair getting in her mouth wasn’t a dead giveaway to who it is, the familiar perfume would be.

  
“Oh my God, what are you doing here?”  
“You only turn thirty-five once, Chlo. I couldn’t miss this.”  
Aubrey and Beca have long since buried the hatchet. It quickly became clear that both of them would do anything for Chloe and that was reason enough to form their own friendship. Beca was actually the one who played a huge role in getting Aubrey through her miscarriage four years ago and Aubrey has helped Beca with planning work events more times than she’d care to admit.  
“Hey Bec.”  
“Hey, you made it.”  
Aubrey hugs Lennon to her side and smiles.  
“Where’s Uncle Henry?” Charlie asks.  
“He had to stay at home and work.”  
No one was surprised when Aubrey married Henry Irving, the hotshot lawyer; he is clean cut, from a prominent family. They were a little surprised when they met him. He is goofier than anyone ever thought Aubrey could tolerate but he’s done his best to mellow her out.  
“Where’s my sister?” Beca asks.  
Hanna walks out of the building and tickles Lennon from behind with her free hand.  
“Calm down, I’m here. It’s not my fault you tasked me with getting a million things for today. Which you could have come up and helped me with, by the way.”  
“You can stand to work out those noodle arms.” Beca says, getting out of the car to open the trunk.  
“Yeah, like you can talk.”

  
Beca scoffs and hugs her sister. It has been a little while since they have seen each other. They both have demanding jobs; Beca, of course, a music producer and Hanna works as a DNA analyst for the New York City Police Department. She’s one of the youngest in her field, and very successful, which unfortunately means very little time for socializing.

  
They all climb into the car and drive an hour, just outside of the city. Ashley and Jessica’s house, now just a summer home since their move to the city, is a beautiful piece of property on a small lake. Beca, Chloe, and the girls have spent weeks at a time at the house over the years and sometimes it feels more like home than their place in the city. Jessica and Ashley married soon after Beca and Chloe did and they all bonded over being the only married Bellas, and of course being the only Bellas in New York. Not to mention, Charlotte and their son Atticus have a bond none of them can understand.

  
The car ride is full of chatter. Chloe and Aubrey catch up while Hanna gets the girls all worked up. Beca doesn’t understand how she can see all of the horrifying things she sees all day and still be so bright and cheerful, but she’s thankful for it; she’s glad her girls have their aunt in their lives. When they pull up to the house, it’s time for surprise number two. Beca leads Chloe to the door that leads to the backyard. Chloe startles only slightly when there’s loud shouts.

  
“Hey Red.”  
“Hi Chlo.”  
“Happy Birthday.”  
All echo through the yard.  
“Clearly we didn’t coordinate what we were going to say.” Stacie says, standing amongst all of the other Bellas.  
“You're all here.” Chloe says, not bothering to stop her tears this time.

She can feel Beca’s hand on her back and Maggie against her legs. She rushes over and hugs each and every one of them. She’s shocked Beca was able to get them all here at the same time, and without her suspecting anything nonetheless. Cynthia-Rose pulls her into a hug while Amy yells something about MILF’s. Lilly, although still strange, had some sort of epiphany, or as she puts it exorcism, after their tour with the USO and actually talks. She says something to Hanna that widens her eyes and no one dares to ask.

  
Jessica and Ashley are in full on hostess mode and only pause to give Chloe a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Flo and Emily gush over Maggie which she loves. The whole yard falls into a specific kind of chaos that only the Bellas could be responsible for. After chatting for a while Chloe takes a seat in one of the canvas camping chairs. She gratefully takes the glass of rosé from Hanna, already halfway done with her own beer.

  
“Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome birthday girl. My sister and nieces treat you right today?”  
Chloe scoffs, Hanna knows that in the Beale-Mitchell household birthdays are like a sport.  
“Of course, and I can only assume you had something to do with all of this.” She gestures around them.  
“Beca, me, Jess, and Aubrey. It was a team effort.”  
“Well, thank you.”  
“Any time. You deserve it all, you know,” Her tone gets a little heavier, “after all you’ve done for all of us, everything you’ve done for Beca. There’s no way we could ever repay that. But this,” She copies Chloe’s gesture, “I guess it’s a good start.”  
Chloe is about to say something but she’s interrupted by Lennon rushing over to them.  
Aunty B, will you come in the water with us?”  
She looks deep in thought for a second.  
“I guess I could squeeze you in.”

  
Lennon laughs and Hanna chases her toward the water. She picks Maggie up and pretends to toss her in on the way. Chloe feels a hand on her shoulder. She looks up to Aubrey who is already taking Hanna’s seat.  
“She seems good.”  
“Yeah, she does.” Chloe agrees.

  
There was a time, between her masters and PhD programs, when Hanna hit a really rough patch. Lennon was two, Beca was pregnant with Charlie. She refused to complicate Beca’s medical issues further with stress. She didn’t know who else to turn to so she talked to Chloe, who talked to Aubrey, who talked to Stacie. Soon enough she had a little army of Bellas knocking down her door, trying to help; which they did, Aubrey’s too stubborn not to.  
Although their time at Barden never overlapped, they became friends during the retreat, the USO tour and even closer a little further down the road. Chloe is lucky enough to be close to her biological family, but she knows a majority of the Bellas weren’t that fortunate. This found family is something special and she knows that too.

  
“She told me you helped arrange all of this.”  
“Organization is my gift. The Mitchell girls, not so much. They would’ve been lost without me.”  
“Hey that’s my wife and sister you're talking about.”  
“So you know better than anyone.”  
“God, I miss you.”  
“I miss you too. I’m here for a week though, so we have plenty of time to catch up. But right now,” She says getting up from her chair, “I need to get my hands on those kiddos of yours.”  
She smiles and walks over to the water, leaving Chloe once again to observe everyone that has gathered just for her; and wonder how the hell she got so lucky.

 

Hanna walks up behind Beca and leans against the doorway.  
“She was definitely surprised,” There's a smirk on her face, it never really seems to leave, “and you were worried she would suspect something.”  
Charlie and Atticus come and jump on her back. She yells, bringing them outside to see everyone. She is the Baby Bella, except for Stacie’s daughter who is actually named Bella. But the girls took her under their wing, especially Stacie, and they have formed their own kind of sisterhood. Beca watches Chloe and her daughters greet all of the Bellas for the first time in a while. It’s been a couple years since they’ve all been together but they’ve seen them individually sporadically quite often.  
“Bec-ah!”  
Beca turns to be face to face with Jesse. After their breakup things stayed surprisingly amicable between them and they work together a lot, despite the fact that Jesse and his wife live in Los Angeles. She wraps him in a hug.  
“You made it in one piece?”  
“Barely.” He scoffs, he hates flying almost as much as she does.  
“How’s Felicity?” She asks, she likes Jesse’s wife, what little she knows of her.  
“She’s good. About to pop.”  
“And she let you come? When I was pregnant with Charlie I barely let Chloe out of my sight.”  
“Her mom is with she isn’t due for another month so I think we’re good.”  
Beca grabs two beers and hands one to him. They both stand in the doorway.  
“I told you.”  
“What?” She asks.  
“I told you we were going to get married and have aca-children. I just thought it was going to be with each other.”  
“Your crystal ball was a little blurry back then, huh?”  
He shrugs, “I guess so.” There’s an extended pause but she can feel his eyes on her, “You look happy, Bec.”  
“I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”  
“Mama,” Charlie calls to her from the edge of the water, “come swim!”  
“I thought you didn’t swim.”  
She shrugs, stepping outside, “I can’t say no to the kid.”

The rest of the day is filled with laughter, food, swimming, a couple scraped knees, and the company Chloe has missed for years. It’s getting dark and the bugs are starting to come out. The kids don't seem to mind, they’re playing soccer on the far side of the yard while the adults sit around the fire drinking.

  
“Okay babe,” Beca says to Chloe. They are wrapped up together in one of the camping chairs. Chloe cranes her neck awkwardly to look at her, “are you ready for your gift?”  
“What? Beca, you’ve already done so much.”  
“Yes, but I’ve had lots of help, especially with this last part, so it doesn’t count.”  
Chloe gives her an incredulous look but gets up when Beca pats her leg.  
“Girls, you ready?”  
Lennon’s head whips around and her smile takes up her whole face.  
“It’s time?”  
“Yeah, let’s go.”

  
Everyone goes inside to the large living room. There’s a piano and a couple stools. Chloe quirks an eyebrow.  
“Mommy, sit here.” Maggie instructs before she climbs onto a stool.  
Beca hands Chloe a small gift, “Open it.”  
Chloe feels butterflies in her stomach but she isn't sure why. She unwraps the paper to find a CD. The cover is a black and white picture of the back of the girls. They’re standing on the balcony of a building in the city, over their shoulder you can see the Statue of Liberty.  
“What is this?”  
There’s gentle pink cursive lettering on the bottom “LACJMK”. The girls’ initials.  
“My New album, I finally finished it.”  
Chloe looks stunned, she had no idea Beca had even been working on an album of her own. She turns it over to read the track list: Here Comes the Sun, Danny’s Song, True Colors. They’re all lullabies that they’ve sung to the girls since they were babies. Except one, the very last song is one she’s never heard of.  
“Baby, this is incredible.”  
“Do you want to hear my favorite?”  
Chloe nods. She can already feel tears glazing her eyes. All three girls are on a stool now, Beca takes a seat at the piano. She starts with a bouncy melody and a short intro before Lennon starts to sing.

  
“I’ll tell the world,  
I’ll sing a song.  
It’s a better place since you came along, since you came along.”

  
Charlie joins her and their voices fit together like they do this all the time.

  
“Your touch is sunlight through the trees,  
Your kisses are the ocean breeze,  
Everything’s alright when you’re with me.”

  
Maggie’s little voice, slightly off-key, joins in on the last few lines.

  
“And oh, you’re my favorite thing.  
And oh, all the love that you bring.”

  
The girls stop and Beca’s voice, much smoother and more elegant, rises above the chords.

“It feels like I’ve opened my eyes again.  
The colors are golden and bright again.  
There’s a song in my heart, I feel like I belong.  
It’s a better place since you came along.”

Beca looks up and right into Chloe’s eyes that are now swimming in tears. She whisks a couple off of her cheeks but doesn’t break the contact. Maggie hops of her stool and climbs into her lap.

“I see the whole world in your eyes,  
it’s like I’ve known you all my life,  
you just feel so right.  
So I pour my heart into your hands,  
it’s like you really understand, you love the way I am.”

The girls sing the last part with Beca and Chloe is almost certain her heart is going to explode inside her chest.

“Well it feels like I’ve opened my eyes again,  
and the colors are golden and bright again.  
And the sun paints the skies and the wind sings her song.  
It’s a better place since you came along.”

Beca’s hands stop on the piano and the only sound in the room is Chloe’s sniffling. She wipes the tears away and Beca moves to kneel in front of her. The rest of the Bellas disperse and talk quietly amongst themselves to give the family a little privacy.

  
“You didn’t like it?” Maggie asks.  
“What?”  
“You’re crying.”  
“No, Angel, I’m crying because I loved it so much.” She looks to Beca, “It was beautiful.”  
“I can’t take all the credit. The girls helped me write a lot of the words.”  
“You did?” Chloe fiddles with Charlie’s hair.  
“And then I just watched you with them and the rest just fell into place.”  
Chloe kisses Beca, a deep, passionate kiss. The girls giggle. Beca reaches over and tickles Lennon’s side without breaking the contact.

A while later, they are in the car. Hanna and Aubrey decided to stay and leave with some of the other girls in the morning. So it’s just Chloe, Beca, and the girls. All three are passed out in the backseat. The car is quiet, the radio is on but the sounds of the other cars easily drowns it out. Beca rests her right hand on Chloe’s thigh.

  
“Did you have a good birthday?”  
“It was the best day ever.”  
Beca smiles, “Good. Just don’t expect me to top it next year. I’m done.”  
Chloe giggles, but the sound causes Maggie to stir. Thankfully she doesn’t fully wake up. She rubs her nose and mumbles,  
“Happy Birthday, Mommy.”  
Chloe reaches back and smoothies her hair. She whispers, “Thank you, Angel.”


	5. Green Drinks and Rug Cleaner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got a ton of prompts asking for a chapter with pregnant Beca and it spawned this.

Chloe rolls over in bed and bumps her nose against something. She opens her eyes and is met with her daughter, Lennon.

“Hi Mommy.”

Her eyes are wide, looking right into her own. She’s always bright and loud and a little too much in the morning, especially for Beca.

“Hi baby, where’s Mama?”

Chloe scrunches up her face when she realizes Beca isn’t in bed. Lately she’s barely been awake before noon. Chloe gets up and wraps herself in her robe. It’s late March and the chilly air is still sticking around. Lennon hops into her arms to go downstairs. There’s music playing in the kitchen but Beca is nowhere to be found.

“Bec?”  
“Mama!” Lennon calls out through a giggle.

Chloe walks through the whole downstairs before she finds Beca in the laundry room. She’s folding the onesies that they’ve been gathering for the new baby. The washer and dryer are both running.

“Bec, what are you doing?” Chloe asks, over the rumble of the machines.  
“I’m just doing some laundry.”

She leans over, as much as her quickly expanding belly will allow. She kisses Chloe and then kisses Lennon’s head with a little tickle to her side.

“Good morning, monster. Did you sleep well?” Lennon nods. “That makes one of us. Your little sister was practicing her tap dancing again.”  
“I’m sorry, baby. Why don’t you sit down?”  
“No, I’m okay. I’m gonna finish this.”

Chloe looks at her for a second before leaving the room to make breakfast. Beca has started her maternity leave, and it’s been driving her crazy. It was necessary to take it early because her nausea and body aches have made it nearly impossible to do anything at all except lay in bed or on the couch. Chloe isn’t sure what’s changed today but she supposes the nesting instinct has hit and has given her a much needed boost of energy.

Beca waddles out of the room and into the kitchen. Lennon is sitting, contented, eating a waffle. She’s humming quietly to herself while struggling to keep the waffle on the fork to actually get into her mouth. Chloe puts down a plate with a veggie omelet next to a spinach smoothie. Beca scrunches up her face.

“Bec, it’s good for you.”  
“It’s yummy, Mama.”  
“Then you drink it.”  
“Beca, don’t pawn your healthy stuff off on our three year old. She already eats better than you.”

Beca sits and drinks the smoothie. Chloe has been on her through her pregnancy to be healthier. She’s been trying, but it doesn’t mean she has to like it. She sits and eats next to her daughter. Saturdays used to be her day with Lennon. They would go to the park, or a museum or the library but lately she hasn’t been able to do anything; she’s just thankful she has such a resilient kid.

“Mama, can we go get stickers today?” Lennon asks.  
She means the farmer’s market. Their favorite stand always gives her stickers.  
“Not today, monster.”

Chloe catches the tone in Beca’s voice; a little agitated and a little sad. She’s been beating herself up that she can’t spend as much time with Lennon as she would like. Chloe leans against the counter to talk to Lennon.

“Hey baby, why don’t you get your art stuff out and we’ll do some crafts today.”  
“Okay.” Lennon hops off her stool and disappears into the living room.  
“You really should be resting.”  
“I will in a little bit.”

After breakfast, Beca continues on the laundry. When she goes up to Lennon’s room to put her clothes away she notices the pile of toys in the corner. She crouches down the best she can to organize them. She sorts them by size and color. Then she moves over to the bed, she strips the sheets, grabs the bedding from her own room, and puts it all in the washing machine.

Chloe watches her move around the house; organizing the cabinets, the refrigerator, and the storage closet in the hallway. She’s a little worried she’s going to overdo it but she also knows that the more she tells her to stop the more she’ll dig her heels in.

“Chlo, where’s the rug cleaner?”  
Chloe’s heart flips when she walks into the kitchen and Beca is standing on a step ladder.  
“Babe, get down from there. What are you doing?”  
“I’m looking for the rug cleaner.”  
“Well it’s not up there.”  
“We need to clean the rugs because if we don’t then we can’t put the baby on the floor. Remember, we used to lay a blanket down for Lennon and she would have “tummy time” which is a stupid name by the way.”

Beca takes her hand and she steps down.

“I remember.”  
“And to change diapers. That’s where Lennon will play with her new baby sister so it needs to be clean.”

Chloe bends down and grabs the rug cleaner from under the sink. She holds it up to show Beca but pulls it out of her reach before she can take it.

“I will do this. You need to sit.”  
Chloe disappears down the hall but pokes her head back into the kitchen, “And newborns don’t have tummy time, babe.”

Beca sits at the counter. She’s quiet and still for a minute. She can hear Chloe talking to Lennon in the other room but she’s too focused on the countertops. She moves over to grab the spray and cleans every surface in the kitchen. Lennon comes running in and bumps into the back of Beca’s legs.

“Mama, come play.”  
“Not now, monster.”  
Lennon slumps her tiny shoulders and stalks back into the living room. Chloe is cleaning up the art table in the corner.  
“Why so glum, sugarplum?”

She sits down on the couch and Lennon climbs up onto her lap.

“Mama won’t play with me. She never does anymore.”  
“She’s just been a little too tired lately. She will again soon, I promise.”  
“But she's doing other stuff.” Lennon argues.  
“I know,” Chloe tries to come up with a way to explain the whole situation to her, “remember we talked about how Mama was going to change a little bit?”  
“Her belly is big.”  
“Right. And there are a lot of other things that we can’t see. She’s getting ready to bring your little sister into the world.”

Lennon sighs and leans against Chloe’s chest. It doesn’t take long for her to fall asleep. Chloe puts her on the couch for her nap and goes to find Beca. She walks upstairs to the nursery, she can hear Beca gently humming. When she peeks around the corner, Beca has a tiny shirt in her hands, she uses her stomach as a surface to fold it before placing it in the drawer. She does this a couple more times before Chloe walks up behind her and wraps her arms around her waist. Her hands rub her belly, she’s going to miss this. The baby is kicking, as far as she can tell she hasn’t stopped.

“Lennon is napping, maybe you should do the same.”  
“I really feel fine.”  
“I know you do right now but if you keep pushing it you won’t later.”  
“There’s so much to do. Was there this much to do before Lennon was born?”  
Chloe giggles, “Much more. We hadn’t been through it before. You were running around like a crazy person, remember?”  
Chloe picks up a couple of the shirts and folds them for Beca to put them in the drawers. It’s quiet.  
“I’m scared.”

Chloe looks up at Beca, she’s already looking at her. She doesn’t blink, her teeth pull at her bottom lip and she looks like a child that’s just been caught red-handed stealing from the cookie jar.

“Scared of what?”  
Beca laughs, but there’s no humor behind it.  
“This human inside of me somehow has to get out.”  
“Yes, I know. I’ve done it once before.”  
“And it looked like it hurt. A lot. I’m not as strong as you, Chlo. I can’t do it.”  
Chloe grabs Beca’s arms and runs her hands up and down them.  
“Look at me.” She waits until Beca looks into her eyes, “You are the strongest person I know. You can do this. You can do anything and the second you feel like you can’t do it anymore, I will be right there to remind you that you can.”  
Chloe wipes away the single tear on her cheek.  
“You’ll be there the whole time and let me crush your hand?”  
“You can crush both of them if you need to.”

Beca leans into Chloe and rests her forehead on her shoulder.  
“And I think while you're feeling energized you could spend some time with that little rugrat downstairs. She’s feeling a little displaced.”  
“Maybe we could take a walk when she wakes up.”  
Chloe nods, “Then you’ll rest?”  
Beca groans. She knows that Chloe is looking out for her but she isn’t used to being treated like a child.  
“Yes Mom, I’ll rest. But right now, I’m gonna finish folding these clothes or else they’ll never be put away.”  
Chloe rolls her eyes and walks out of the room to prepare some stuff for dinner.

Beca waddles downstairs and takes a seat on one of the kitchen stools.

“Babe, can you help with my shoes, please?”

Chloe, albeit a little selfishly, has been enjoying taking care of Beca so much. Sure, motherhood softened Beca, but pregnancy has made her a big pile of mush. She’s been emotional, which is a word no one would ever use to describe her before. She has been dependent on Chloe, more so recently, for everything; including shaving her legs and tying her shoes.

Lennon runs into the room, already changed into Chloe approved play clothes. Her little sneakers tied tightly and her hair pulled back into a ponytail, doing its best to contain her unruly curls; but the shorter ones have already come loose and frame her face.

“Mama, lets go, we’re going to the park!”  
Beca smiles, “I know, monster. It was my idea.”

Chloe stands up from tying Beca’s sneakers and grabs her bag. Lennon hangs on Beca’s arm.

“Don’t hang, Len. Mama can’t pick you up, remember?”  
“I hate that rule.” Beca grumbles.

Lennon runs out the front door and onto the sidewalk. One of the biggest advantages to Beca and Chloe’s new townhouse is the proximity to Lennon’s preschool, a really nice park, and a grocery store. Especially since Beca can’t do a ton of walking. Lennon skips along, happily. There’s still little patches of snow on the ground, melting into puddles of mud, which Chloe desperately tries to keep Lennon out of.

Beca is huffing a little, but she still feels full of energy. She’s determined to use it up while she has it. She hasn’t felt like doing anything at all in months.

“You alright, baby?”  
“I feel great.” Beca smiles.

Lennon runs toward the play structure while Chloe and Beca take a seat on one of the benches. There are a few groups of kids playing and Lennon joins in on a game almost immediately.

“Are you worried about how she’ll react when the baby gets here?” Chloe asks, seemingly out of nowhere.  
“I’ve thought about it.” Beca says, “I think she’ll be fine.”  
“You seem pretty confident about that.”  
“I am, you know why?”  
“No, why?”  
“Because that kid is all you. The way she looks, the way she acts, she’s you.”  
“And that’s a good thing?” Chloe asks, with a smirk.  
“That’s a great thing. She’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”

They watch Lennon play for an hour before it gets a little too chilly. They take their time walking home. As soon as they’re through the door, Beca is back to her cleaning and Lennon plops down in front of the television so Chloe can make dinner.

 

Chloe lays Lennon down on her bed and she’s sound asleep in seconds; the fresh air and running around wore her out. Chloe realizes she hasn’t seen Beca for a while; she kind of disappeared after dinner.

“Becs, where are you?”

She pushes the door to their bedroom open. Beca is laying in the bed, rubbing her head. She has her feet up on a pillow. She looks exhausted.

“Baby, I told you not to overdo it today.”

Beca jumps a little when she realizes Chloe is there. She wipes at her eyes hoping Chloe doesn’t notice, but of course she does.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”  
“I’m just so sick of this. I want her out.”

Chloe climbs onto the bed and rubs Beca’s legs.

“I want her out.”

Beca starts to cry again. The exhaustion is back, full force. Chloe never thought she would see Beca cry, well at least not as much as she has since the beginning of her pregnancy.

“She will come, sooner than you think, and you’ll want this back.”

Beca scoffs and shakes her head.

“I know you don’t believe me, but you will.”

Beca takes a deep breath. Her pregnancy has been a difficult one, she’s been faced with some medical issues and her overall mental state has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

“You and I had very different pregnancies.”  
“That’s true. But once she’s born you’ll have to share her with rest of the world. Right now it’s just you and her.”  
“I wish it had been different. I wish it had gone the way yours had.”

Beca rubs one of her eyes.

“I feel guilty, all of the moms in that stupid Lamaze class are always talking about how they feel so connected to the baby and that pregnancy has been the most amazing experience of their lives. But I don’t feel any of that.”

Chloe moves from rubbing Beca’s legs to rubbing her back.

“You don’t need to feel guilty about that. You are already an incredible mom. Lennon is the happiest kid in the world and she’s basically obsessed with you, and you didn’t give birth to her. Pregnancy doesn’t define motherhood.”  
“I know, I just wish that I felt differently.”

Chloe nods. She has no idea what Beca is feeling. Overall her pregnancy with Lennon was great. Other than suffering through the summer heat with an expanding belly, she felt such a sense of pride carrying their first child.

“And I hate that you were right.”  
“About what?”  
“I think I may have overdone it today.” Beca turns her head, “Don’t you dare say I told you so or I swear to God I will keep this baby from you until she’s a teenager and make you deal with her all alone.”

Chloe laughs which makes Beca smile.

“I’m sorry. Why don’t we get you into a nice warm bath?”

Chloe pulls her to sit up. Beca quirks an eyebrow.

“I think you meant, why don’t we get us into a nice warm bath.”

She leans up and kisses Chloe. They let it linger, hands wandering, only slightly, until Beca pulls away with an expectant look.

“Whatever you want, baby.”


	6. Green Alligators and Lucky the Leprechaun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little St. Patrick's Day Chapter

Beca is rudely awakened on Saturday morning by the weight of her four year old plopping onto her chest. Last night was the first restful night of sleep that any of them had had in months and she isn’t ready for it to be over yet. Charlotte is almost a year old and she has only just begun to sleep through the night. Lennon, on the other hand, always falls asleep early, which means they are usually all awake before the sun.

“Mama, guess what!” Lennon’s voice is shrill, it usually is, but Beca only seems to notice it in the morning.

She opens her eyes reluctantly to her daughter’s nose almost touching her own. She sits herself up so Lennon can cuddle into her lap.

“What?”

Beca pulls a piece of Lennon’s hair out of her mouth, because it’s always everywhere. She takes a second to look at her fully, she’s already dressed in her sparkly white and green leggings with her new t-shirt that has a sparkly golden shamrock on it. Beca scoffs, of course Chloe got the girls outfits for today. Beca never saw the appeal of the holiday, but then again, she isn’t Irish.

“The Leprechaun came.”  
“What?”

Lennon stands on the bed and pulls at Beca’s hand. She climbs out of the bed, groaning at the cool air hitting her legs. Lennon brings her down the hall into her bedroom, which has streamers over the door. Those definitely weren’t there when she went to sleep last night. Lennon holds up fake gold coins.

“Wow, you’re rich now, Len. You gonna start paying rent?”  
“They aren’t real money, Mama. It’s chocolate.”  
“Well then we’ll have to thank the leprechaun for the sugar high.”

Lennon giggles and lifts her arms to be picked up. Beca complies and carries her downstairs where Chloe is feeding the baby in her high chair. She, of course, is wearing green. Beca loves the color on her, the deep green compliments her hair and makes her eyes stand out a little more than usual. She walks up behind her and kisses her cheek.

“Good morning, baby.” Chloe greets her.  
“Mama, Mama, hi.”

Beca puts Lennon down in her chair and walks back over to the baby to give her a kiss.

“Good morning, bug. You had a good night last night, huh?”  
Chloe smiles, “Yes she did.”

Beca pours herself a cup of coffee and sits at the table next to Lennon to make sure she eats, both of their girls have been staging their own little hunger strike lately. Beca takes a few bites of a bagel but she isn’t all that hungry. When Chloe is done feeding Charlie she takes her from the high chair and hands her to Beca. She cuddles her into her chest.

“No outfit for Charlie?” Beca asks with a smirk.  
“It’s upstairs I didn’t want her to get it all dirty.” Chloe answers, seemingly unaware that Beca is making fun of her.  
“So Len showed me the Leprechaun came last night.”

Chloe smiles but she looks a little guilty. She can’t help but buy into the fun of every little holiday, having kids has made everything, even St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine's Day more fun. She nods her head.

“He did. Did you see what he brought you?”

It’s Chloe’s turn to smirk. She holds up a headband with bobbing rainbows and pots of gold on it.

“No.”

Beca shakes her head.

“Come on, Bec. It’s fun.”  
“No, I’ll wear green but that’s as far as I’ll go.”  
“One picture.”  
“No, because that one picture will make its way to everyone we know. Nothing is worth that.”  
“I could probably think of a few things.” Chloe says, lifting an eyebrow.  
“Not even that.”

Chloe pouts but Beca doesn’t fold. She made it abundantly clear to Chloe, the second they started dating, that she would never wear a ridiculous hat, a couples costume, or anything with a “witty” saying on it, holiday or otherwise.

“Fine.”

Chloe tosses the headband onto the counter and lets Beca pull her into her arms. Charlie in between them. Beca’s eyes widen as a horrific thought pops into her head.

“You didn’t get Charlie a leprechaun costume did you?”  
Chloe giggles, “Maybe.”  
“Chlo, I didn’t let you put her in a pumpkin at Halloween and I am not letting you put our baby in a leprechaun costume.”  
“One picture.”  
“No. Charlotte, I’m so sorry your mother is trying to degrade you like that.” Beca says, like she’s speaking to an adult. The baby looks up at her with a wide smile and giggles.  
“I’ll wear it, Mommy.” Lennon offers from her chair.  
Chloe gestures to Lennon, “She said she would do it. I have consent.”

Beca shakes her head and walks out of the room. Those two are peas in a pod, which means by the end of the day there will be a picture on Chloe’s phone of Lennon in a leprechaun costume.

 

Although most people think of St. Patrick’s Day as strictly a drinking holiday, Chloe and Beca think of it as a music holiday. They have spent every St. Patrick’s Day since moving to New York in the same little restaurant. After the girls were born they were a little skeptical about bringing them to a place where so many people have been drinking, but it tends to stay pretty tame.

Chloe has a firm grip on Lennon’s hand while she skips along beside her. Beca has Charlie in her arms, wearing a very similar outfit to Lennon’s. Beca is wearing a deep green t-shirt, as promised, under her leather jacket.

When they make it inside there are a few open tables in the back which they scoop up. Jessica and Ashley, and their son Atticus are joining them. Lennon squeals and dances in her seat when the band starts to play. They play some quiet beautiful ballads and some crazier Irish folk songs with lyrics that make them all laugh. Lennon is delighted, while Charlie seems much more interested in Chloe’s necklace and Beca’s hair, which gets a nice strong tug every once in a while.

It’s always the same band, one that Beca has actually worked with at some local events. Keegan, the lead singer has become a good friend. He catches her eye and winks. She knows what’s coming and there’s nothing she can do about it.

“Ladies and Gentleman, I want to thank you for coming out.” He speaks in his Irish lull, “We’re almost done tonight, but before we go, we want to welcome a good friend of ours. Some of you may know her, Beca Mitchell.”

She shakes her head and laughs. She’s had a couple of beers and she’s starting to feel them, she hasn’t had much to drink in a while. Keegan walks over and takes her hand.

“Can’t let these lovely people down, Mrs. Mitchell.”

She gives him a warning glare but it rolls off his back. He pulls her up on the small makeshift stage and hands her a guitar. She sits on the stool and strums it a couple times.

“Hello, everyone, happy St. Patrick’s Day. Now I have a disclaimer, I am not Irish.”

A few of the people laugh and others boo, good natured.

“But my beautiful wife, right over there,” She blocks her eyes from the light, “she is. So I’ve been brushing up on my Irish songs, and I know how Keegan is, I had feeling this was coming. So, I asked my four year old which one she liked the best. So this is for my little leprechaun.”

She smiles and winks at Lennon. She is totally captivated whenever Beca sings.

 

“A long time ago, when the earth was still green  
And there were more kinds of animals than you've ever seen  
They'd run around free while the earth was being born  
But the loveliest of all was the unicorn

There was green alligators and long-necked geese  
Some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees  
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born  
The loveliest of all was the unicorn.”

 

Chloe watches on, a little shocked, only Lennon can make Beca act this way. She knows Beca would do almost anything for her, but she would do absolutely anything to make her girls smile. Her heart melts when she sees the smile on Beca’s face. She plays the rest of the song and then hands the guitar back over.

“Come on, Beca. One more?” Keegan asks, extending the guitar to her.

She looks over to Chloe, she gives a nod of approval and she takes the guitar back. She strums the guitar a couple times and the beginning notes of The Parting Glass echo through the restaurant. It’s fallen very quiet, almost too quiet, but Beca continues to sing. Her voice bounces against the walls. She catches a glimpse of Chloe’s face and smiles.

 

“A man may drink and not be drunk.  
A man may fight and not be slain.  
A man may court a pretty girl,  
and perhaps be welcomed back again.

But since it has so ought to be,  
by a time to rise and a time to fall.  
Come fill to me the parting glass.  
Good night and joy be with you all,  
good night and joy be with you all.”

 

Claps erupt and Beca stands up. She hands the guitar over and shakes Keegan’s hand.

“Thanks for that, I guess.”

He leans in and gives her a hug.

“You know you had fun.”  
Beca shrugs, “Maybe, but next year it’s all on you.”

He laughs and she thanks the rest of the band before going back to their table. Everyone else has already dispersed, music playing over the speakers and more drinks being poured. Chloe stands and kisses Beca.

“That was amazing, baby.”

Beca smirks and rolls her eyes. Lennon jumps up into her arms.

“Mama, that was funny.”  
Beca tickles her side and laughs, “I’m glad you thought so, monster. Next year you’re getting up there and doing it.”  
“I don’t know how to play guitar.”  
“You have a year to learn.”

Lennon purses her lips and shakes her head.

“Who knows, maybe Charlie will be playing by then, what do you think?”

 

When they get home, Charlie is sound asleep against Beca’s chest. Lennon is hyped up on sugar from the giant desert Chloe allowed her to get.

“You get to put her to sleep.”  
“By myself?” Chloe asks, eyebrows raised.  
“You made your bed, Chlo.”

Chloe pouts but Beca shakes her head.

“Nope, this,” She gestures to Lennon spinning around in circles, singing loudly, “is all you. I’m gonna go put Charlie down.”

Beca disappears up the stairs and Chloe looks at Lennon in terror.

“Len, bed time. Come on.”  
“I’m not tired, Mommy.”  
“Yes you are. It’s past your bedtime.”

Lennon follows her up the stairs. Chloe is more than a little surprised when she gets changed into her pajamas and climbs into bed without a fight. They read a book about a little leprechaun named Lucky, and before Chloe turns the last page, she is out.

  
Chloe walks into the nursery, Beca is sitting in the rocking chair with Charlie, still sound asleep, in her arms.

“Did she wake up?”  
Beca shakes her head, “No, I just wanted a minute with her. She’s getting big.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Can you believe she’s gonna be a year old in a few weeks?”  
Chloe leans against the doorframe, “Not really, no.”

Beca runs her finger over Charlie’s chubby hand and keeps her eyes on her little face. Her lips move and her forehead scrunches with whatever dream she’s having. Eventually she puts her in her crib.

“Did you have a good St. Patrick’s Day, babe?” Beca asks when she turns to Chloe.  
“Mhm, there is just one thing missing.”  
“What’s that?”

Chloe pulls out a felt beard that's attached to a hat. Beca’s face drops.

“No, I’m not putting it on.”  
“Relax, it’s not for you.”

She moves around her wife to place it on Charlie.

“If you wake her up, I swear to God.”

Charlie doesn’t stir and Chloe is able to get a picture. She turns and gives an evil smirk to Beca. When she realizes just what that means Beca runs out of the room, into their bedroom and shuts the door. Chloe follows her and pushes her onto the bed to try to get the hat on Beca’s head. She fights it with everything she has but eventually she concedes and lets Chloe put it on her head. Chloe snaps a picture and laughs, a little too loudly. Beca pushes her down and rolls them over so she can straddle her.

“I don’t know what this says about me,” Chloe says, “but I’m a little turned on right now.”  
“Oh yeah? This is working for you?”

Beca wiggles her eyebrows and strokes the fake beard. Chloe laugh again.

“Maybe a little.”

Beca leans down and kisses Chloe. She lets it linger, a little longer than their usual goodnight kiss.

“Happy St. Patrick’s Day, you weirdo.”  
“Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Lucky.”

 


	7. Happy Birthday, Charlotte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Charlie Jane is born.

Beca wakes up and something doesn’t feel right. She can’t place it but she knows that something is off. Her whole body has been sore for months at this point but there’s a new kind of pain in her back that she hasn’t noticed before; just add it to the list of increasingly aggravating pregnancy surprises.

She sits herself up and looks at the clock. It’s nearly nine a.m. She forces herself out of the bed and rushes to the bathroom. She sighs and psyches herself up to lift her body off of the toilet. She waddles down the stairs. The baby has dropped and it’s making it even harder for her to balance. She can hear Lennon giggling and Chloe singing one of the millions of songs she's made up for her.

She finally makes it to the kitchen and sits on the stool next to Lennon. She kisses her cheek and tickles her side.  
“Hi Mama.”  
“Good morning, monster.”  
“Morning babe,” Chloe says, “you had a rough night last night, huh?”  
“Yeah, a little. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to keep you up.”

Chloe waves her off and puts a plate in front of Beca. She leans against the counter.

“How are you feeling?”  
“Alright, just tired.”

Beca looks down at the plate. The idea of eating much of anything right now is a little sickening. She pushes it away.

“Bec, you need to eat.”  
“I’ll just have a banana or something.”  
“That’s it?”  
“Yeah, I’m a little nauseous.”

Chloe eyes her suspiciously. She puts her hand on Beca’s forehead on instinct. She brings her a banana and kisses her head.

“You’re sure you’re alright?”  
“Mhm. I’m gonna go lay on the couch.”

Beca goes into the living room and puts her feet up. She’s exhausted, a bone tired feeling, she can’t quiet describe it but she knows something is off. She closes her eyes, for what feels like a few minutes, but she wakes up two hours later to a loud crash. She sits up and looks around.

Lennon is standing with a guilty expression; eyes wide, every muscle frozen as she looks at Beca and waits for her to get mad.

“You okay, Len?”  
“I’m sorry, Mama. I dropped the markers.”

Sure enough, Lennon has accidentally dropped the whole bin of markers onto the hardwood floor. They’ve rolled and scattered everywhere. Chloe rushes into the room, she looks flustered.

“Lennon, really? I told you we had to be quiet Mama was sleeping.”  
“It’s okay, Chlo. Len, why don’t you pick them up and then we can read a story together or something, okay?”

Chloe straightens herself and shakes her head, as if pulling herself from whatever bad mood she had just been in, but she doesn’t say anything. She just sits on the couch next to Beca and looks closely at her face like she's trying to read her mind.

“How was your nap?”  
“Much needed.”

Beca’s smile is weak and her eyes still feel heavy. She rubs her stomach when she feels a strange pull at the bottom of her abdomen.

“Are you in pain?”  
“What? No, I’m fine.”

Lennon finishes cleaning up and climbs onto the couch with one of her favorite books. She hands it to Beca. Her little hand rests on top of Beca’s stomach. Beca runs her free hand through her hair while she speaks quietly to her.

“What are we reading?”  
“Maple.”  
“I should have guessed that.” Beca gives her a gentle smile.

Chloe walks back down the hall to finish whatever it is she was doing before. Beca opens to the first page and starts to read. She has to stop midway through the second page when she feels pain in her stomach and lower back. A contraction. She takes a couple deep breaths. Lennon looks at her, her little features pulled into an expression of concern that perfectly matches Chloe’s.

“Mama?”  
“Yeah, monster?”  
“Are you okay?”  
“Mhm.”

As soon as the pain is gone she continues reading. She finishes the book and almost immediately Lennon is distracted by her toys. Beca sits through another contraction, trying her best to be quiet so it goes unnoticed. She watches Lennon play for a while before pushing herself off of the couch. She tries to get some work done but every time she starts to get into something she has a contraction. She watches Chloe prepare and serve Lennon lunch.

She breathes through another contraction, they are getting more painful and coming closer together. She realizes that if this is happening she is going to need to shower.  
While she’s washing her hair she has another contraction. She leans against the wall and breathes through it. The panic sets in and she gets out of the shower quickly. She dresses in comfortable clothes and lays on the bed. When her eyes close she can hear Lennon downstairs.

She breathes through several more contractions before she dares to go downstairs. She knows if she doesn’t Chloe will come looking for her and at least this way she can save face. Chloe is folding laundry and Lennon is dancing around to the radio.

“Mama, guess what!”  
“What?”

Beca sits on a stool.

“Mommy said Aunty B is coming to stay with me.”  
“What?”

She looks to Chloe. She folds the shirt in her hand and tosses it into the laundry basket.

“You’re having contractions.” It isn’t a question.  
“No, I’m fine.”  
“You think I haven’t noticed you wincing and bending over in pain for the past couple hours?”

Chloe is reminded where Lennon gets her guilty expression from.

“Beca, why didn’t you tell me? How long?”  
“Pretty much all day. There was no sense in telling you because nothing was happening.”  
“But now it is. We need to go to the hospital.”  
“No, not yet.”  
“Not yet? I don’t think it’s up to you. Come on, baby.”  
“No, Chloe, I’m not going.”

Lennon hugs Chloe’s leg when she hears the tone in Beca’s voice. Chloe puts her hand on her hip, she figures this is just another bout of the usual Beca Mitchell stubbornness but when she stops and looks into her eyes, the only thing she sees is fear.

“I’m not going. I can’t do it.”

She leans down in front of Beca and grips her thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Are you kidding me? You’re going to be great.”

Beca shakes her head.

“Yes, you are. And one day when this little girl asks about the day she was born, I’m going to tell her that her Mama was the mot badass woman on the planet.”

Beca shudders with a sob. Chloe pulls her into her chest and kisses her head.

“But we can only do that if we get you to the hospital.”  
“I’m scared.” She says into her chest.  
“I know. But I’m going to be with you the entire time, and when it’s all over, you’re going to forget about all of this. Because our little girl is going to be here and she’s going to be amazing.”

She detaches herself from Beca’s death grip and pulls her to her feet. Lennon runs out of the room and comes back with her stuffed narwhal.

“Here Mama, take Walter. He’ll protect you.”  
“But baby, you need him to sleep.”  
“Not tonight.” Lennon shakes her head, sending her curls bouncing everywhere.

Chloe picks her up and shifts back and forth. She kisses her head.

“Are you ready to meet your baby sister to be here?”  
“Uh huh, it’s been forever.” She groans dramatically.  
“Only a little longer and then you can come see her.”

Hanna rushes through the door, still in her work clothes. She tosses her bag down and walks right into the kitchen.

“Bec, how are you doing?”  
“I’m fine.”

Lennon squeals and falls into Hanna’s arms. Chloe gathers everything they need for the hospital. Hanna helps Beca through a contraction, holding her hand and rubbing her back.

“You good?”  
“Mhm, I think so.”  
“Okay, let’s get you to the car. Len, go see if your mommy needs help.”

Hanna gets Beca in the car, buckled, and ready to go, but Beca doesn’t let go of her hand.

“Han.”  
“You’re going to be great. Go have that baby and I’ll see you on the other side.”

Hanna wiggles her fingers free but holds her hand up. Beca rolls her eyes before she gives her a high five and receives a kiss to the forehead.

“I love you.”  
“I love you, too.”

Hanna picks Lennon up and walks back into the house.

“Is Mama gonna be okay?”  
“Yeah, Len, she’s gonna be fine. That was probably a little scary for you, to see Mama like that.”  
Lennon nods. Her bright blue eyes sparkling. Hanna sits on the couch with Lennon cuddled into her lap.  
“I’m sorry, kiddo. But don’t worry. Mama is going to be fine. Mommy is with her right? She’s the best at making people feel better.”  
“Like when I’m sick.” Lennon supplies happily.  
“Exactly.”

 

  
Chloe rocks back and forth with Beca’s head on her shoulder. She rubs her back. Beca grabs her arm.

“Chlo.”  
“Another one?”

Beca nods and her whole body tenses. She lets out a long groan that tapers off into a whine.

“Breathe, Bec. Keep breathing.”

When the contraction subsides she looks up through glassy eyes.

“Why won’t she come out?”  
“She will. She’s trying.”

Dr. Sawyer walks into the room and sits to examine Beca. She’s been in the hospital for seven hours and her labor has screeched to a grinding halt.

“So, you are five centimeters dilated.”  
“I was at seven a little while ago. How did it go down?” Beca looks devastated.

Chloe grips her hand and kisses her head. She’s sweaty and looks beyond exhausted.

“It’s not something we see a lot but it does happen. I’m sorry, but we’re stuck in a waiting game at this point.”

The doctor gives a sympathetic look before she doors of nurses and doctors in and out of the room. Beca leans back against the pillows and takes a deep breath.

“Why did we decide to have a kid with my genes? She’s not even here yet and she’s already an asshole.”  
“Beca.”  
“Did you call Han? How’s Lennon?”  
“I did. She’s having a blast, of course. If all goes well with this one maybe we can sell Lennon to Hanna.”  
Beca laughs a breathy laugh, “I wish she was here.”  
“I don’t think having a four year old running around everywhere would really help you in your situation.”  
“I mean Hanna.”  
“Oh.” Chloe smiles, “She wishes she was here too. But she has the second most important job right now.”

Beca nods in understanding.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?”

They both look up to the door. Jessica is standing there with her usual gentle smile, in her lab coat, on a quick break from work.

“This is the worst experience of my life.”  
“That’s sweet. I’ll be sure to tell her that when she’s older.”

Chloe giggles and Jess takes a seat on the edge of the bed. Beca is sitting up, rubbing her stomach. Chloe hasn’t stopped rubbing her lower back because every time she does, it looks like Beca will burst into tears.

“Thanks, but she’ll have already heard it because I’m going to hold it over her head every day for the rest of my life.”  
“I just talked to your doctor and she said you're doing great.”  
“Well then she’s a liar.”

The ending of her sentence transitions into another long groan. Beca reaches out for Chloe and she has her hands in her own with a second. Beca’s anxieties about giving birth have skyrocketed within the past month or so and Chloe has promised not to leave her side, not for a second.

“Breathe through it, baby.”

Beca takes several deep breaths, trying her best not to push. Apparently she’s nowhere near ready for that.

“That’s my girl. You’re doing amazing.”

 

  
Chloe wipes Beca’s forehead with a damp cloth, dabbing along her hairline. Beca is lying on her side, grasping at the sheets with her fist. She is panting, absolutely miserable.

“Chlo, I’m thirsty.”  
“Do you want more ice chips?”  
“No, I don’t want the damn ice chips. I want water.”  
“I know but you can’t have any.”

Beca lets out a shuddery sob. Chloe puts the cloth down and rubs her back as another contraction rips through her. She is almost screaming with each contraction now. They are coming closer and closer together, it must be almost time to push. It has to be.  
Dr. Sawyer walks into the room and checks Beca one last time.

“Alright ladies, I think it’s time.”

Beca’s eyes widen and if it were any other situation Chloe would be giving her a hard time; it’s like this is coming out of nowhere. Chloe holds her hand through the whole thing. Adding words of encouragement, loud enough to be heard over Beca’s tears and yelling. Eventually, after what feels like hours, their daughter is born.

Beca flops back against the bed but Chloe refuses to take her eyes off of the baby. The doctor puts the baby on Beca’s chest. She lets out a single sob but when she looks down at their baby all of the breath leaves her body.

“Hi there,” she looks over her arms and legs. She runs her fingers over the tops of her head, “I’m glad you finally decided to show up.”

Chloe lets out a breathy laugh but she’s crying openly. Beca looks up and kisses her.

“I told you you could do it.”

The nurses take the baby to check her over and clean her up. Chloe leans down and kisses Beca again.

“Thank you.”

Beca can’t speak, she just nods. She grips Chloe’s hand in hers.

 

  
Lennon comes bounding into the room but stops when she sees Beca in the bed. Hanna is a step behind her and nearly takes her out.

“Hi Lemon, come here.” Chloe says, holding her arms out for Lennon to walk into.

Hanna takes a seat at the side of the bed and smiles at her older sister. She looks more exhausted than she’s ever seen her but she is glowing. There’s a tiny white and pink bundle in her arms.

“You’re dying to hold her, aren’t you?”  
“You have no idea.” She says, arms already outstretched.

The baby is as close to perfect as any child could get. Hanna pulls the blanket away from her face and looks over her features; so tiny but already resembling her Mama.

“Does this little lady have a name?” Hanna asks, gently rocking back and forth.

Chloe looks at Beca, she knows she wanted to be the one to tell Hanna the name they chose.

“Charlotte Jane.”

Hanna’s head pops up, her eyes are watery and she’s smiling, “Really?”  
Beca nods, “We wanted her to have a little bit of her aunt with her always.”  
“Charlotte, you gave her my middle name?” She asks, like she can’t believe it.

She looks back down at the baby.

“You hear that? You have my name so that means you have to listen to me.”  
“Not sure that’s how it works.” Beca says, stifling a yawn.

Chloe brings Lennon over and lets her get a look at the baby. She looks a little unsure. Hanna hands her over and watches Chloe help Lennon to hold her.

“What do you think, Len?”  
“She’s ours?” Lennon’s eyes are wide and she looks just like Chloe, it’s a shock to her even though it’s all anyone has talked about for the last nine months.  
“This is your sister, Charlotte.”

Lennon scrunches up her little nose and looks her over one more time.

“Forever?”  
“Forever, she’s stuck with us.” Beca confirms.  
“Okay.”

Lennon shrugs but she doesn’t seem overly excited or upset. They’ll take it.

“Just wait until all the Bellas meet her.” Hanna says.  
“I just hope it goes better than when they met Lennon.” Chloe says.

Beca lets out a snort and Hanna groans.

“Anything would be better than that.”  
“Yeah,” Hanna says, “welcome to the world, little lady, and good luck.”


	8. Hope and Perspective

There’s a knock on the front door.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Chloe asks.

Beca shakes her head and walks over to the door. She opens it, just a crack, when she sees who it is she opens it fully and stands aside.

“Hi babies,” Hanna Mitchell, Beca’s younger sister, calls out when she gets into the kitchen.  
“Aunty B!” Lennon yells.

The nickname is one that stuck when Lennon was a baby.

“Hey Lenny.”

She hops off of her stool and into Hanna’s arms. She is followed closely by Charlie.

“Don’t break Aunty B, please.” Chloe calls out.

Hanna puts them down, each with a kiss on their heads. Maggie reaches out with a squeal from her high chair so she kisses her head and tickles her a little.

“What’s going on, Han?” Beca asks, she hands her a beer, which she gladly takes.  
“Not much, just got off work. Figured I’d stop by and see what my little monsters were up to.”

She uses an exaggerated facial expression with raised eyebrows and widened eyes when she speaks to make the kids laugh.

“Are you hungry? Dinner’s almost ready.”  
“Sure.”

Chloe dishes up food for the kids first, and once they are eating happily, the adults take a seat. Dinner goes on pretty quietly, the girls commandeering a majority of the conversation. Beca keeps looking at her sister, it’s clear something’s wrong, but she doesn’t say anything in front of the girls.

After dinner, the girls drag Hanna into the living room to play. She always wrestles and jokes with them but tonight she sits propped up against the couch and watches them run around. She keeps them occupied while Beca and Chloe clean the kitchen.

“She seem weird to you?” Beca asks.  
“She’s quiet.” Chloe says, while putting dishes in the dishwasher.  
“Aunty B, watch!” Lennon yells, she runs and jumps into her beanbag chair with a loud giggle.

Charlie tries to copy but she misses and falls face first onto the hardwood floor.

“Uh oh, Charleston, you okay?”

Charlie nods but then starts to cry.

“Come here, baby.”

Hanna pulls her into her arms and rocks her back and forth.

“Sh, Charlotte, you’re okay.”

Beca walks into the room with a smirk on her face; tears and crying are not uncommon in this house.

“Are you killing my kids in here?”

Hanna visibly stiffens and her eyes glaze. Beca tells the girls to go find Chloe and ask for a scoop of ice cream for dessert. Her diversion works and Charlie’s tears are instantly forgotten. Beca walks over and sits next to Hanna on the floor. As soon as she’s within arms length, Hanna is hugging her, sobs escaping her, muffled by Beca’s shirt.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Hanna shakes her head.

“What’s going on?” Beca’s voice is soft; a skill she acquired only after her children were born.

She waits for the tears to stop. Hanna takes a deep breath and speaks. Her voice is raspy now.

“Rough case. A kid. It was the first time I had to see something like that.”

Beca nods, she runs her hand over Hanna’s back. Hanna is a DNA Analyst for the New York City Police Department. She’s always been incredibly smart, but when she started at Barden, she truly developed a love for science that budded into an amazing career; but at such a young age it can be hard to handle the emotional side of things.

“It’s just, no matter how ready you think you are for something like that, you never are.”  
“I can’t even imagine.”  
“I have this kid’s blood on my hands, literally, and I’m doing everything I can but it’s not enough. Things aren’t adding up, the detectives aren’t getting anywhere. I just keep thinking about what happens now. What happens to that little girl’s parents? Or her brother?”

Her breathing quickens and Beca squeezes her knee.

“She was seven. A year older than Len. Her life hadn’t even started yet. What kind of monster does something like that?”  
“I don’t know.”

She wipes her face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

“It just hit me harder than I thought. I wanted to see the girls and know that they’re okay.”  
“You know you’re welcome here anytime. I can’t even pretend to know how hard your job is.”

It’s quiet for a while. Hanna relishes in the company of someone she loves. She’s been buried in work. She has barely left her lab in days, barely eaten, or slept. She focuses on her breathing and listens to the girls giggling with Chloe in the other room.

“Do you want to stay the night?”  
“I don’t want to put you out.”  
“Seriously dude? You’re staying.” Beca says decidedly.  
“Thank you.”

Hanna takes another minute to gather herself before she stands, extending her hand to help Beca up.

“Did I hear something about ice cream?”

She follows Beca into the kitchen. Chloe gives her wife a look. Hanna grabs a scoop of ice cream and eats with the girls, who manage to get more of it on them than in their mouths.

“Alright ladies, bath time.” Chloe announces and she’s met with groans.  
“I can do it, Chlo.” Hanna offers.  
“I’ll never turn down the help.”

Chloe smiles at her sister-in-law and picks Maggie up out of the high chair.

“I’ll take her in our bathroom if you take these rugrats in theirs?”  
“Sounds good.”  
“Wait, where do I go?” Beca asks with a pout.  
“You can come with me, baby.”

Chloe kisses her lips and Beca hits her on the butt playfully. In their ensuite bathroom, Chloe has Maggie in the tub, splashing happily and singing a string of unintelligible consonants.

“So did she tell you anything?”  
“Yeah, she had her first case with a little kid and it’s taking its toll. Obviously.”

Chloe looks at Beca with wide eyes.

“Oh my God, I can’t even imagine what that must be like.”  
“She’s so strong, you know? But I think she thinks that’s what’s expected from her. It took a lot for her to come here tonight, I can tell.”  
“Is she still going to therapy?”

Chloe thinks back to college, when it surfaced that Hanna struggled with anxiety and depression.

“As far as I know,” Beca picks Maggie out of the tub and wraps her in a towel, “I told her she’s staying here tonight. I don’t want her home alone.”  
Chloe nods, “Tell her to stay as long as she needs.”

  
Beca and Chloe put Maggie to bed. Chloe disappears into their bedroom to change into comfier clothes. Beca pokes her head into the girls’ bathroom. Charlie is standing in her hooded towel that looks like a duck, wrapped tightly around her shoulders, a brand new bruise on her forehead, giggling wildly about something that Hanna said; she always seemed to find a way to make them laugh. Beca could see her as a mother one day, but she has said more than a few times that she has no interest in having kids of her own.  
Lennon is standing up in the tub about to get out. She looks up and catches Beca’s eye.

“Hi Mama.”  
“Hi Len, be careful getting out please. Bug, let’s go get you in your pajamas.”

Charlie follows behind her, humming happily to herself while she gets dressed in her matching pajama set. Lennon runs and changes into one of her nightgowns. They both sit on the floor in front of Lennon’s bed. Hanna sits next to Beca on the bed, each with a hairbrush. They sit in silence, listening to the girls’ idle chatter while they French braid their hair. Lennon’s is a strawberry blonde while Charlotte’s is a dark brown that matches Beca’s almost perfectly.

“Story time.” Beca says, she walks over to the shelves and picks the one they’ve been reading for the past few nights.

Hanna cuddles up on the end of the bed with Charlie in her lap while Beca and Lennon sit on the other end so Lennon can rest her head on her pillow. Beca’s voice soothes them into sleep quickly. Hanna picks Charlie up and carries her to her bed, careful not wake Maggie, who is sound asleep in her crib.

She sits and watches her sleep for a while; the rise and fall of her chest, the rosy tint of her cheeks, and the way her hand twitches every once in a while. She pushes herself off of the floor and flips on the nightlight before she walks out of the room. She walks back downstairs, onto the back patio where Beca and Chloe are sitting, each with a drink. There’s a cold beer sitting on the small table next to the wicker chair. Hanna drops her tired body into the chair and takes a swig of the beer.

“You okay, Han?” Chloe asks.

She knows that Beca told her, they share everything, and she came to terms with that a long time ago. Chloe has been in her life for nearly ten years. She’s been a great friend to her, and after being in the Bellas together, they're bonded for life. She’s her sister too.

“Yeah, I will be. I knew this was part of the job when I decided to take it.”  
“That doesn’t make it easier.”  
“No, it doesn’t.”  
“I don’t want to piss you off,” Beca starts, “but you’re still seeing Dr. Hannon, right?”  
Hanna nods, “Yeah, but this isn’t that.”  
“I know, but I just want to make sure that you’re doing okay.”  
“I appreciate that. I do.”

Hanna takes another sip of her beer and bites her lip.

“You guys are a big part of why I’m able to do this job.”  
“What do you mean?” Chloe asks.  
“When I have a really hard case like today, or I get overwhelmed with how much I have to do, or frustrated when things don’t go my way, I can come here. I can hang out with you and see your kids, who I love more than anything in this world by the way. It reminds me why I do what I do. It reminds me that my job is to help make where we live safer.”

Beca nods and Chloe looks like she’s about to cry.

“So, all of the therapy in the world won’t give me what you guys give me.”  
“What’s that?” Beca asks.  
“Hope.” She shrugs, “And a little perspective. But mostly the first thing.”

Chloe laughs, a breathy laugh, into Beca’s ear.

“I know you can’t really talk about it, but we’re here if you need to.”  
“Thank you.”


	9. Sticks and Stones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some terms that may be upsetting, as always read with care.

“Mommy, what’s a dyke?”

Chloe’s whole body stiffens when the word comes out of her eight year old’s mouth.

“Where did you hear that?”

She keeps her voice light and inquisitive.

“One of the big kids at school said it about one of the girls in the hall.”

There were definitely a few downsides to the girls going to a kindergarten through eighth grade school, the things they hear in the hallway is one of them.

“Well, um, it’s a word we don’t use.”  
“Yeah, but what does it mean?”

Chloe turns to Lennon’s wide, curious eyes looking at her over the kitchen counter. She looks at the clock, 4:30. Beca won’t be home for at least another half an hour, she’s stuck to deal with this one on her own. She swallows around the lump in her throat and takes a seat next to Lennon.

“That word, um, it’s a mean word that is used against people like me and Mama.”  
“What do you mean people like you and Mama?”

Chloe sighs, she feels like she could cry. She’s been lucky, in that most people she’s met have been really supportive of her and who she is. However, she has had run-ins with people who feel like it’s their duty to give her their opinion on her life. Having words like this one hurled at you is not something you ever get over.

“Baby, you know how most of your friends have a mommy and a daddy?”

Lennon nods. They’ve had this conversation before, when she was much younger.

“Well, there are some people in the world who think it’s wrong for two women to love each other the way me and Mama do. They believe that every family should be one mommy and one daddy.”  
“Why?”  
Chloe shrugs, “Some people have just been told their whole life that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Others believe it’s against their religion.”  
“Like church?”  
“Yes. Whatever reason they have for believing that it’s wrong, whatever reason they have for using words like that one, it’s never right. You know that, yes?”  
“Has anyone ever called you that word?”

Chloe isn’t sure she wants to answer this question truthfully, but they’ve come too far already for her to start lying now.

“Yes, and a few others that are just as hurtful.”  
“Sticks and stones, Mommy.” Lennon says, a near perfect mimic of Beca.  
“I know, baby. But sometimes words, when spoken by the right people, can hurt more than a rock. That’s why you need to promise me that you never use words like that, toward anyone.”

Lennon senses Chloe’s tone; it’s not mean or angry, but it definitely isn’t her usual gentle one.

“Okay.”

Chloe wipes a tear and Lennon sits a little closer, letting her tiny hand rest on Chloe's cheek. It’s a simple gesture, it’s exactly what Chloe would have done. She feels like she could breakdown into sobs at any second but she keeps speaking to keep herself in check.

“And if you ever hear anyone say anything like that about me and Mama or you and your sisters, you come right to us. Promise?”  
“I promise.”  
“I love you, sweet girl.”  
“I love you too.”

They fall into a tense silence. Chloe starts to get everything ready for dinner while Lennon works on her homework. Lennon’s voice cuts through the quiet again, this time it’s heavier.

“Mommy?”  
“Yes love?”  
“How could you and Mama loving each other be wrong? Love is the best thing in the world.”

Chloe turns, a big smile on her face.

“You’re exactly right. Love is the most beautiful thing there is. So any chance you get to choose it over hate or anger, you take it.”

Chloe isn’t so sure Lennon followed all of that but she is often surprised by how profound and wise her kids can be. She’s relieved when Beca walks through the front door. She lightens the mood immediately by yelling through the house.

“Where are my spawn?”

Maggie and Charlie barrel down the hall and into her arms.

“There’s two and three. Where’s numero uno?”  
“Hi Mama.” Lennon greets her, clearly not as enthused as her sisters.

Beca kisses each of their heads before moving to kiss Chloe.

“Hi beautiful.” Chloe says.  
“Hey there, gorgeous.”

Beca slips her heels off and pulls her hair out of its half-up twist. She’s dressed in a beautiful, fitted, navy blue pant suit. Her lipstick is still as red as it was this morning; Chloe never understood how she managed that one. Maggie walks over and raises her arms to be picked up, Beca does so willingly. She cuddles her youngest to her chest and gently sways.

“What’s for dinner?” Charlie asks, climbing up into her chair.  
“Hamburgers.”  
“Yum!”

Charlie has never been a picky eater but it still makes her mothers laugh how excited she gets at meal times.  
Chloe looks tense but she’s trying to cover it up with idle chatter with her daughters. Lennon looks a little sad. Beca looks between them both and quirks an eyebrow.

“Chlo, you okay?”

She doesn’t miss the way her eyes drift to Lennon before she gives a saddened smile.

“We’ll talk later.”

This makes Beca nervous. They try to keep any heavy topics away from the kids, they’re still so little, so it really could be anything. She still has a bad feeling in her gut.

“Okay, I’m going to change.” Maggie grips tighter around her neck, “I guess this one’s coming with me. We’ll be right back.”

 

Beca tosses Maggie onto the bed playfully. It makes her giggle and Beca closes her eyes. She waited all day to hear that sound. It had been a long one filled with frustrating and mind-numbing meetings, but now that she’s home, she’s reminded what it’s all for.  
Maggie lays on her belly and kicks her feet up in the air. She watches Beca move around the room. She grabs sweatpants and a t-shirt. She tosses her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head and takes off her jewelry.

“Mama?”  
“Yes Angel?”

Beca stops moving and looks at Maggie.

“I love you.”

A huge grin breaks out on Beca’s face and she jumps onto the bed and peppers Maggie with kisses.

“I love you too. So so so so much.”

 

Dinner, playtime, bath time, and bedtime come and go quickly. Maggie and Charlie are already in bed when Beca bumps into her wife coming out of Lennon’s bedroom.

“Hey.”  
“Hey, what’s going on, you’ve been off all night? Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine,” Chloe tries to brush her off, “go say goodnight to Len. We’ll talk after.”

Chloe pecks her on the cheek and Beca doesn’t bother to wipe the confused expression off of her face. She pushes the door to Lennon’s room open. She’s curled up in her blankets, gentle music playing from the iPod dock in the corner of the room.

“Hey monster.”  
“Hi Mama.”

Beca climbs onto the bed and Lennon gratefully takes the opportunity to snuggle into her side. She sighs, Beca knows she’s tired, but no matter how late Beca has to work, or how long it takes for the two younger ones to fall asleep, Lennon will fight to stay awake to get her time with both of her moms.  
Chloe’s words from earlier keep swirling around in her mind. She doesn’t understand it all but she knows enough that people should be able to love whoever they want, especially her moms.

“What’s going on with you, huh?” Beca asks, playfully poking Lennon’s forehead.  
“Why do people have to be mean?”  
“What? Is someone being mean to you?”  
Lennon shakes her head, “Not me. You and Mommy.”  
“What are you talking about?”

Beca is trying to keep up but she’s been in the dark since she got home. Lennon turns in her arms so she can look up at her face.

“Mommy said that people call you names because you love each other.”  
“Yeah, but that hasn’t happened in a long time.”  
“But people say it to other people too. That’s not nice.”  
“No, it’s not nice,” Beca says, still confused, “did someone say something to Mommy, or to you?”  
“No, I heard a word at school and Mommy told me it was a bad word for people like you.”  
Beca’s mind immediately generates a list of every known slur she has ever heard.  
“Why are people mean?”  
“I don’t know, Len. I wish I did. But I think there are a lot of reasons why people act mean, none of them are good enough to excuse it. But I think a lot of people do mean things because they’re scared.”  
“Scared of you and Mommy?”

Lennon lifts an eyebrow and it makes Beca want to smile but the weight of the situation makes her mouth stay where it is.

“Scared of what they don’t understand. Usually people are mean to those who look different than them. They say things and call them names because they want to keep a safe distance, instead of asking questions and trying to get to know them. We can’t ever know everything that’s going on in someone’s head but we can always try.”

Lennon lays her head back on Beca’s chest and sighs again. This time Beca can feel some of the tension in her muscles dissipate.

“I’m sorry people were mean to you, Mama.”  
“Thank you, baby.”

It doesn’t take long for Lennon to fall asleep. Beca slips out of the room and closes the door behind her. The light is on in her bedroom so she walks down the hall. Chloe is sitting criss-cross in the center of the mattress, folding laundry.

“Len told me about your conversation.”

Chloe nods, she doesn’t look up. Beca crawls onto the bed and sits behind her, allowing Chloe to sit back into her chest. She kisses her shoulder.

“I’m sorry you had to tackle that one alone.”  
“I can’t stand the idea that our girls are going to grow up hearing words like that. That something some kid says can alter the way they think about us.”  
“Hey, our girls are never going to think differently of us because we love each other. They love us and they are proud of their family.”  
“Yeah, right now they are. But what happens when they grow up and everyone else in the world is telling them that their family is built on sin, or that their mothers are trying to turn them gay, or whatever else they come up with.”

Chloe pushes herself up and stands. She starts to pace across the room and Beca knows she’s spiraling. Chloe grew up in a conservative town. Her family was full of avid churchgoers and not everyone was accepting of her when she came out. Some of the scars they left never fully healed.

“Then we’ll hope that we’ve raised them to stand up for what they know is right. We’ll have to believe that they won’t be swayed by hate and spite.”  
“I don’t really love the odds of three little girls against the whole rest of the world.”

A single tear drips down off of her cheek and onto the wooden floor.

“Well it’s a good thing they’ll have backup. They’ll have us right there behind them, and our family and our friends, and all of the other people fighting the same battle; because I know it doesn’t always feel like it but there are a lot of us out there.”

Beca stands and pulls Chloe into her chest. She speaks, more gently this time.

“I love you and I love our family.”  
“I love you too.”  
“Then none of the rest of the bullshit matters.”

Chloe looks up into Beca’s eyes.

“None of it.”


End file.
